


Matter of Time

by CakeWalk



Category: Actors - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Actors, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hollywood, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, London, Marvel - Freeform, Romance, Slow Burn, Texas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-08-01 22:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 165,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16293302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CakeWalk/pseuds/CakeWalk
Summary: Billie Aufderheide, actress and contemporary scream queen, scored her role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier over two years ago and has been overwhelmed by the large amount of fame ever since. She started out as a small town Texas girl with big dreams but slowly becomes cynical of Hollywood and all of it's drama. The teenage actress starts to doubt her career choice and even more so as her past continues to haunt her into adulthood. However, when Marvel seeks to cast Spider-Man as her character's love interest, she soon finds herself not minding the movie business as much. Billie never had a thing for British guys before but maybe she could make a small exception this time around.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Every time, I go  
> I come back, I come back, don't you know  
> Hey baby, it's just a matter of time  
> Every time I dream of you  
> I wake up next to someone new  
> Hey baby, it's just a matter of time  
> -Matter of Time by Fitness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie Aufderheide, a famous actress who is considered to be one of the few contemporary scream queens, stars as Emma Rogers/The Viper Assassin in the MCU franchise. While filming Captain America: Civil War, Marvel decides to cast Spider-Man into the movie but needs Billie to do a chemistry test with all the potential candidates for the role. None of the chemistry tests have gone very well so far and Billie is at her wit's end when the directors want her to do yet another one.

Georgia was hot.

But the hot weather didn't really bother Billie Aufderheide and why should it? Georgia wasn't that much hotter than Texas and Texas was where Billie was from, after all. All her co-stars would complain about the heat and humidity but Billie was right at home.

Well...all her co-stars except for Anthony and Chadwick complained but Anthony and Chadwick were the only ones used to the heat since they were also from the south. At least they didn't complain about the weather which gave Billie some comfort although she was slightly more jealous of Louisiana and South Carolina accents which were way more charming that her Texan one. Her accent which had made a return upon her moving back to Texas.

It was true that not all Texans had that stereotypical Texan twang. A lot of Texans had a general American sounding accent but those were mostly the Texans from largely populated areas in the cities. The city people from Austin, Houston, and San Antonio(for the most part) didn't tend to have a real thick Texan accent. Unfortunately for her, Billie was from East Texas...not that far from where Matthew McConaughey was from, actually. So Billie's accent wasn't too far off from McConaughey's which sounded hot on him but Billie didn't think it had the same effect on her. She thought it made her sound like a redneck.

"Hey, Sally Draper!" Anthony called out and Billie turned her head as she was ripped out of her thoughts by the older actor.

She was lounging around in her trailer, thinking about when filming would finally end. She loved and admired all her co-stars but their complaining about the weather drove her crazy sometimes. It's why she sometimes kept to herself inside her trailer so no one would bother her. Thankfully they respected her privacy...well, some of them, at least. Robert still seemed intent on annoying her at all costs. Billie rolled her eyes as she got up from the couch and opened the door of the trailer.

None other than Anthony Mackie was standing there, grinning at her.

"I told you not to call me that," Billie drawled boredly, causing her accent to be thicker than usual. She was, of course, referring to the name Anthony had insisted on calling her which was the name of the character she played on _Mad Men_. The same nickname that he had also gotten everyone else to use too. It was astoundingly annoying.

"You should take it as a compliment, Aufderheide. At least, I stopped calling you John Wayne. You really do watch all those damn Cowboy movies, after all," He told her and Billie glared at him.

"I don't just watch westerns," Billie protested but Anthony just gave her a doubtful look. "I like horror movies too...I also happen to be a fan of Ben Stiller movies so how's that? John Wayne wasn't even from Texas so that nickname doesn't make any sense."

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Billie," Anthony said as he shook his head. "Your movie library is somewhere between westerns, scary movies, and Ben Stiller. I always thought young actresses like you would be more into Marlon Brando and Daniel Day-Lewis films for inspiration."

"Fuck Marlon Brando and Daniel Day-Lewis," Billie said playfully. "And besides...I'd rather be a young Paul Newman anyways."

Anthony just laughed at the blonde haired actress.

Billie Madison Aufderheide was a tall young woman, standing at about 5' 9 but had a slender figure although her Aunt Linda always thought she was too skinny. When she was younger her aunt always tried to make her eat second and third helpings but those multiple helpings of dinner never seemed to stay with her. Billie always wished she was a bit curvier because she knew just how bony she was. She'd kill for bigger boobs too...well, in Hollywood getting bigger boobs wasn't a problem but Billie would never resort to plastic surgery.

That was one thing she didn't agree with Scarlett on.

Billie's hair was also a nice shade of golden blonde and her eyes were her most famous feature which was solely because of the ocean blue color of them. Her eyes even had hints of green which Billie hadn't known about until she had seen her face up close on the big screen for the first time. Funny how many different things that Hollywood made you realize about yourself. Sometimes it can be good but sometimes it can also be bad.

She knew that she had been blessed in the looks department and Billie wasn't one of those fake actresses that pretended like they didn't know they were pretty. Billie knew because how else had she been able to make it in Hollywood this long?

She was one of the lucky ones.

It wasn't just because of her charming personality(and she was being completely sarcastic when she said that) that she had made it into Hollywood. Hollywood liked their starlets and the prettier the better. Everyone was superficial that way. The only actresses that made it in Hollywood without having to be pretty is if they were funny, and Billie didn't think she was funny, or if they were Meryl Streep level talented which Billie honestly doubted she'd ever become. She didn't really count herself as that kind of actress.

Billie didn't care if calling herself pretty made people think she was conceited. Those people weren't from a small ass town in Texas with a high teen pregnancy rate. Billie was pretty positive that if she had stayed in that small town of hers that she would already be pregnant by now. One of her childhood friends was pregnant but that's what small town life was like sometimes. There was nothing to do so teenagers got bored but Billie didn't want to be seventeen and pregnant.

She didn't want to be like her mother.

Billie wanted to travel and do things before she actually settled down and started a family. She especially didn't want to remain stuck in Lindale, Texas for her whole entire life. Acting had been the way out so she had no problem taking that opportunity as soon as she could. It's not like she hated acting or anything. Billie really enjoyed acting because how could you not? She basically got paid to have fun and not to mention she loved movies. As she said before, there was nothing to do in the town she was from so all she did growing up was watch movies. Her mother and her couldn't afford to go on vacation so books and movies were kind of like Billie's vacation.

"Draper?" Anthony inquired with a somewhat concerned look on his face. Billie snapped out of her thoughts. It didn't do her any good to dwell on the past. Not that Billie wasn't grateful for all of her family's sacrifices but there were some things better left in the past.

"What?" Billie said in confusion and Anthony gave her an odd look.

"While you were spaced out there, thinking about God knows what, I was trying to tell you that Kevin said that they need you for the screen test," Anthony informed her and Billie frowned, trying to withhold a groan.

"Another screen test? When are they finally going to cast Spider-Man?" The seventeen year old complained loudly.

Anthony watched the girl in amusement because it was rare that she sounded like her actual age. Billie was usually a very mature and well mannered young woman which made it easy to forget that she was only a teenager.

"I'm tired of meeting all these pretentious assholes. You know, the last one tried to suggest that I might like to meet up in LA sometime for dinner and a night in his mommy and daddy's apartment," Billie told him, scoffing at the mere thought of LA. Anthony actually took back that last thought. Billie was mature for her age but she also had a crudeness and bitterness that most teenage girls didn't have. "As if I'd ever be caught going to LA willingly. I fucking hate that city. It's like a disease and every time I go back I feel more and more infected. "

Anthony rolled his eyes at Billie's usual dramatics.

"You do realize that you're an actress, right? You kind of work in LA," Anthony pointed out and Billie frowned.

"Well, time's are changing and hopefully we'll be able to work from anywhere other than that stinkhole people call LA. We're in Atlanta right now, after all. No one really goes to LA anymore except for premieres and award shows," Billie told him and Anthony just shook his head at her.

"If you had it your way, you'd work out of Texas doing a bunch of cowboy movies," The older actor replied and Billie smiled for the first time since Anthony knocked on her door.

"A girl can dream, can't she?" Billie said, laying out her Texan accent nice and thick. Anthony smirked.

"You were born in the wrong time, kid," He noted and Billie just shrugged, not seeming that bothered.

"Maybe not. Women weren't allowed to be Clint Eastwood or John Wayne way back when but maybe now they can," Billie said and Anthony was taken back by the positiveness of her tone.

It wasn't often that the blonde was positive about anything.

She was probably one of the most pessimistic people he knew. Anthony really thought she was like a grumpy old man trapped inside a teenage girl's body.

"Good to know...now stop stalling," Anthony told her, becoming stern with her at once. Billie wanted to laugh at the look on his face because it was completely obvious to her that his inner dad was showing. "Get your ass out of that trailer and head over to the Russos. They're auditioning this new guy and from what I hear he's the real deal. Evans said this kid can do all kinds of gymnastics and not to mention he's not too shabby of an actor."

Billie rolled her eyes.

"Well, someone give the kid a fucking medal," She said sarcastically and Anthony sighed.

"Look, this guy's already done the screen tests with Robert and Evans. He nailed both screen tests and now all that's left is you which is probably the hardest. You're not exactly the most welcoming of people. You scared all the other actors away," Anthony told her and Billie scowled at him.

"If they weren't complete suck ups then maybe we'd get along but unfortunately for them I don't take shit from anyone. Especially not smug looking bastards that think they're better than me just because they talk like the Kardashians and they've been acting since they were shitting in their diapers," Billie ranted and Anthony didn't know whether he should laugh or scold her.

Probably laugh.

Billie's antics never ceased to amuse everyone on set and there was never a day that went by that she didn't say something to surprise everyone.

"Well, unfortunately for you, Miss Aufderheide, you don't get a choice," Anthony told her, saying the 'Miss Aufderheide' part in a sarcastic tone. "This is part of your job so you better get your ass over to the screen test and be nice to this guy. The Russos really like him so you've gotta make a great impression."

Billie just raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. Anthony sighed tiredly.

"Come on, kid, don't make me into the lame, nagging parent. I'm cooler than that," Anthony told her in an almost joking tone before continuing. "Your mom decided that you're old enough be on set alone but that doesn't mean that she's not worried. She asked Evans and I to keep an eye on you and this is me trying to make sure you behave yourself."

"I don't need a babysitter," Billie grumbled and Anthony gave her a look.

"Give me some credit here, Billie. I'm trying to be a responsible adult," Anthony told her and Billie scoffed.

"You, responsible?" She questioned doubtfully. "You do realize you're the reason everything gets delayed on set. Mackie, you're the least responsible person I know. Even Seb is more responsible than you."

Anthony glared at her.

"Okay, that's it. Stop being a brat right now or I'll tell Robert that you secretly think he's cool," Anthony told her seriously and Billie narrowed her eyes at him.

"You wouldn't," She said in a low tone and Anthony just smirked at her.

"I think you and I both know I totally would, kid," Anthony replied and Billie clenched her jaw but Anthony knew he had already won.

Robert had been intent on trying to get Billie to think he was cool. Anthony thought the weird love/hate relationship between the two was weird but Billie was a weird person, after all. She seemed to love giving the very famous Robert Downey Jr. a hard time. Billie said that she was making sure that Robert didn't get too big for his britches. It was a weird saying but Anthony dismissed it as Billie resorting to her traditional Texan sayings. There was a lot of weird sayings down south but Texas had to have the weirdest of them.

He was also pretty sure she only used those sayings to get a reaction out of everyone.

"Fine. I'll go to the screen test," Billie grumbled and Anthony continued to smirk at her.

"And?" He questioned smugly and Billie glared at her boots.

"And I'll even be nice," Billie said in a quiet voice and Anthony grinned at her, patting her on the shoulder although it was clear that Billie wasn't happy about this.

"Atta girl! Now march your ass across the lot and don't be yourself," Anthony told her and Billie was becoming increasingly annoyed by his smug grin by the second.

"Seriously don't be yourself because you're the most unpleasant person ever. Please don't scare the kid away either. The others really want Spider-Man to be casted already so we can get on with filming. If not this production is going to be the longest in history."

"Okay, Dad," Billie said sarcastically as she began to exit her trailer, slamming the door behind her. "Stop nagging me already. I'm going."

The blonde then walked past the older actor, looking like she was wishing she were anywhere else.

Anthony just sighed as he watched the teenager walk away. He really hoped that she didn't screw this up for everyone with her charming personality. Billie was intimidating enough to actors like Robert, Scarlett, and even Paul Rudd was a little scared of her so there was no telling how intimidating she was to young actors like the ones that auditioned for Spider-Man.

Billie Madison Aufderheide was the weirdest kid that Anthony had ever met.

He already knew that it didn't matter who he worked with in the future during his acting career because he already knew that he'd never meet another actor like her.

 

* * *

 

Billie walked towards set, trying to put herself in the best mood even though she didn't really feel all that happy about another screen test with an annoying bratty actor.

Still...she was trying to put on her best smile because she knew Anthony was right. They really needed to get a move on with casting Spider-Man because they were already half way done with filming _Civil War_ and there was still no Spider-Man. It was mostly because Sony had been dragging their ass in signing a deal with Marvel to get the rights back over to them.

They'd finally managed to get everything settled a month or two ago so now everyone was running around trying to find Spider-Man. It was too bad that most of the actors that tested for the role were annoying assholes. Some of them were actually nice but when they did the screen test with Billie and Robert, there just wasn't any chemistry there. Billie personally thought the whole chemistry test thing was bullshit because who really cared...but then again, she couldn't really say anything bad about that because that's how she won her role in the MCU.

It had been a little over two years ago when Billie had first auditioned for _The Winter Soldier._

She had only been around fourteen or fifteen at the time and auditioned five times. The process was really long and made her anxious especially since there were far better actors auditioning for the same role. Names like Saoirse Ronan and Sophie Turner were just a couple of the ones that came up and both who had impressive resumes. The only impressive thing on Emma's resume had been her work on _Mad Men_ as well as her role in the horror comedy _Zombieland_. Of course there had been her work in _Let Me In_ and a couple of indie films but her filmography looked nothing like that of the other older actors starring in the Marvel franchise.

She was definitely no Saoirse Ronan...that was for sure.

Billie hadn't even known what she was auditioning for until about two auditions in and from there on she was excited. Anyone who knew Billie knew that she loved action movies and she loved doing action movies even more. There wasn't a lot of opportunities for a girl her age to get action movie parts, especially ones where she was the one kicking ass, but _The Winter Soldier_ offered her the first part where she had been able to be that action hero. Well, not really a hero but kind of a villain who turned into an anti-hero.

The opportunity came by the name of Emma Rogers/The Viper Assassin.

Emma was the granddaughter of Captain America but also the surrogate daughter of Bucky Barnes. She was kidnapped when she was a toddler, her parents killed right in front of her, before being experimented on and tortured by Hydra. Emma was made into their weapon, another Winter Soldier in the making, before the fall of Hydra, which happened in the same movie, and the Winter Soldier left her in the care of her grandfather intentionally.

From the beginning Billie had been intrigued by the character and wanted nothing more than to be able to portray Emma Rogers. She supposed it was because she related to Emma on a lot of levels. They both seemed to hate kids their own age and were too cynical for their own good. Not to mention were hermits that never liked leaving the comfort of their own homes. Billie also had a dysfunctional sort of family environment like Emma although, at least, Billie had a mother.

Strangely enough, Billie hadn't had a chemistry test with Chris Evans when she originally auditioned for the role which was strange because he was playing her grandfather, after all. No, her chemistry test was actually with Sebastian Stan and surprisingly enough they had gotten along very well much to the Russo brothers delight. There was a lot of people Billie didn't like in Hollywood and most of her co-stars were amazing but it was Sebastian she liked the most. She didn't tend to have celebrity friends, usually preferring to keep her business and personal life separate, but she considered Sebastian to be a really good friend of hers despite the age difference.

Billie personally thought that celebrity friendships were fake and annoying.

When Taylor Swift invited her to join that cult she called a squad, Billie politely declined. Billie thought stars like that were a bit big headed and self obsessed if most of the friends they had were celebrities. She understood that celebrities had a hard time relating to people who weren't celebrities but Billie still wasn't fan of how some celebrities enjoyed flaunting how many famous friends and lovers they had in front of the camera.

Billie also couldn't believe that many of those same celebrities claimed to hate attention.

Yeah, right.

Hollywood was filled with fame whores and Billie knew that for a fact.

So here Billie was doing her third Marvel film and she still wasn't used to everything.

She wasn't used to the fact that there were people who drove her to and from set like she was someone important.

She wasn't used to having an assistant who catered to her every need.

Billie especially wasn't used to the fact that people with cameras followed her around like she was someone interesting nor could she get used to the fact people wanted her autograph for some stupid reason.

It was all so strange to her and she didn't think she'd ever get used to it even with working in Hollywood since she was eight. Billie didn't really appreciate people following her around with cameras but she didn't think she could complain either.

Everything came with a price.

All this fame and money she had acquired in recent years didn't come cheap. Billie would just have to tolerate it and in about twenty years from now, when she would start getting old and boring after settling down to have a family, they'd probably forget all about her.

Someone would show their kids a movie of hers and they'd spend the entirety of the movie looking her up on Wikipedia to see how old and fat she had gotten.

That's what her mom and her did whenever they watched an old movie and Billie was sure she'd come to the same fate someday. Everyone had their time in the sun as her aunt would say and Billie wasn't naïve enough to believe that her looks would last forever. There would come a day when her looks would fade and she'd cease getting parts in movies. Billie was okay with that too because she knew by then that she'd have enough money to spend the rest of her days quietly living in peace on a nice ranch in rural Texas surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

Maybe her husband too if he didn't die first or leave her for someone much younger.

"Billie, thank god I found you. We've been looking everywhere for you," Lily told her as the short brunette woman ran up to her.

Lily was Billie's assistant/tutor for a couple years now but Billie liked to think of her as more of an older sister. The twenty four year old was always having to make sure that Billie stayed out of trouble and didn't offend any famous actors or directors.

After that time Billie told Edward Norton that he was a pretentious idiot, Billie's agent and publicist weren't taking any chances. In her defense he was being a total asshole. They told Billie that she was lucky to still be working in the industry after that one. Edward Norton refused to ever work with her but Billie didn't consider that a great loss anyways.

Idiot.

"Mackie told me to come so here I am," Billie said and Lily gave her a knowing look.

"You have a serious problem listening to people so I highly doubt it was that easy," Lily replied and Billie just smirked at her.

"Does it matter how I got here? I came, didn't I?" Billie retorted and Lily just rolled her eyes.

"Just get in there. They're waiting for you," Lily informed her.

"Whatever. It better not be Zac Efron in there or I'm going to be pissed," Billie said and Lily wasn't sure whether or not she was joking. The teenage actress had a very dry sense of humor so it was never clear to most people when or if she was being serious or not.

The only person that really seemed to understand her was Sebastian and no one knew how he did that.

"It's not but don't worry. This kid's real cute," Lily said as she smiled at Billie and gave her a wink.

Billie scowled at the older woman because Lily seemed hell bent on her getting a boyfriend and especially an actor boyfriend.

Billie personally wasn't interested in having a boyfriend at the moment and she especially wasn't interested in actors. She didn't really consider actors to be real men and the thought of dating an actor made her want to vomit. Billie knew that the time that she lived in now was different than old Hollywood. There was no more Clint Eastwood or John Wayne kind of actors. Probably thanks to Marlon Brando there was a ton of actors that were more like Edward Norton now.

Dating an actor was probably at the bottom of Billie's list if it was even on there at all.

"Whatever," She muttered under her breath causing Lily to sigh.

The real reason Billie was in such a bad mood, and Lily knew this for a fact, was because the teenager was pissed at Marvel for basically handing an entire film franchise to some random actor while Billie had been playing the Viper Assassin for the past couple years and there was still no word about a Viper Assassin movie. It wasn't that Billie was attention seeking or anything but she just wanted there to be more stand alone movies for female superheroes. DC was about to start filming a Wonder Woman movie and Marvel was talking about doing a Captain Marvel movie but Billie thought that Marvel should give the movie to an already existing MCU character.

It wasn't just her either.

Billie wanted the Black Widow and Scarlet Witch to get their own movies too. It was just kind of ridiculous to Billie that they were making Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Ant-Man, and Spider-Man movies when they had plenty of female superheroes that had been in the MCU a lot longer yet they still weren't getting a movie. Billie understood that things back in the day used to be different but it was 2015 for crying out loud.

Why couldn't women lead superhero movies?

Scarlett Johansson had proven to be a bankable action star. Besides...everyone knew if you stamped Marvel on a movie then you were guaranteed to make a lot of money.

"Just be nice," Lily reminded her and Billie gave her a look.

"I know, I know. I'm not a complete bitch, you know. My mom raised me to have manners. Haven't you ever heard of Southern hospitality?" Billie asked teasingly, trying to push Lily's buttons. Lily snorted.

"You, hospitable? Yeah, right," Lily commented although she was slightly concerned for the actor that Billie was going to be testing with. Billie was unpredictable that way. There was no telling what the blonde was going to do and everyone put up with it because they needed Billie in order to cast Spider-Man. There was no other way around it which made Billie slightly nervous for Marvel's plans for her in the future.

Billie had never grown up reading comic books, she was always more interested in westerns and horror, but she had done a bit of research when she had been casted as the Viper Assassin.

The Viper Assassin had been an Anti-Hero of sorts who had started out as a villain. Billie was playing the first incarnation of the character on the big screen but the character was a fan favorite. The odd thing about the Viper Assassin, however, was that she had very few love interests which was rare for superhero characters and especially females. Her list of lovers consisted of just two.

Loki and Spider-Man.

Loki had been the Viper Assassin's partner in crime and the two had caused a lot of mayhem together which made her enemy number one in the Avengers' eyes despite being Captain America's granddaughter. It wasn't until she met Spider-Man that she started becoming more humanized and sympathetic in the comic book readers eyes.

In a controversial move in the comic books, the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man started having an affair after one of the many deaths of Gwen Stacy. The comics containing the affair were actually pretty risqué for Marvel but eventually the Viper Assassin left Loki for Spider-Man before joining the good guys. Personally Billie liked the Viper Assassin more when she was evil but to each their own. She also doubted that the MCU was going to go with the no strings attached storyline like what happened with the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man in the comics.

This was still Disney, after all.

She knew that not everything that happened in the comic books also happened in the movies but Billie was starting to get the feeling that they might be going the Spider-Man and Viper Assassin romance route. It was certainly interesting since Spider-Man and the Viper Assassin had never been in the same movie before. Billie was the first to play the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man's past love interests in movies had either been Mary Jane Watson or Gwen Stacy.

Billie actually thought that Spider-Man was kind of slutty for a nerd because he nearly fucked every woman in the Marvel universe. She didn't really care whether or not they went the romance route this time but she just hoped that they didn't turn the Viper Assassin into a lovesick little girl.

That would be lame and pathetic.

"Just be on your best behavior, okay?" Lily said softly and Billie rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a child," Lily gave her another pointed look which caused Billie to sigh heavily. "Fine. I'll be nice to this guy. I promise."

"Good," Lily told her as she gave her a satisfied smile. Billie just shook her head at the woman before she opened the door to the building and entered it.

* * *

 

It was the building on set where they filmed all the scenes with the green screen. The building had high ceilings and was enclosed which made everyone else thankful since it was air conditioned. It was then that Billie saw several people standing a short distance away. She could see a couple of the producers, the Russo brothers, Kevin, Robert, and Evans.

Billie could also see another person standing in the midst of all these people.

There was a teenage boy standing next to all the adults with a wide eyed look on his face. She figured that this was probably the kid everyone was talking about. He looked a bit scrawny to Billie with a very slender figure and he wasn't that tall either. Evans seemed to tower over him and even Robert looked to be around an inch taller than him. That was saying something too because Robert was the same height as Billie. Billie raised an eyebrow at the nervous looking boy as she analyzed his appearance.

She supposed he was kind of cute in a boy band kind of way which meant that he definitely wasn't Billie's type. He had slightly wavy brown hair that was a bit messy as it clung to his forehead due to the hot temperature that was obviously making him sweat profusely. The teenage boy also had a pair of big brown eyes that Billie would admit were...nice. If you were into that kind of thing anyways. The last thing Billie noticed about the boy was his outfit which happened to be what looked like blue and red pajamas.

Billie was really starting to question the Russo brothers costume choice.

"Bills! My favorite Texan!" Robert exclaimed as he grinned at her and Billie forced herself not to glower at the man. It wasn't that she disliked Robert but she just disliked the fact that he was so happy all the god damn time. Just get a grip, Downey. "We were wondering where you were at."

"Hello, Downey," Billie mumbled, resorting to her more reserved nature now that there was a new person she didn't know in the room. Billie was a bit anti-social like that. It took her a while to get used to a person and not to mention she was terrible at initiating conversation. She was just so awkward.

"Jesus Christ, kid. Would it kill you to smile once in a while? You look like the grim reaper," Robert teased and Billie reminded herself of what Lily told her. She needed to be nice and pretend like she was a pleasant person to be around.

It was just that Robert made that really hard.

"Where the hell were you anyways?" Robert questioned.

"I was reading a book," Billie said shortly and Robert feigned a disgusted look.

"A book? What are you? An old lady? Aren't kids your age supposed to be on Snapchat or whatever?" Robert said and Billie resisted the urge to throw up at the term 'Snapchat'. However, she just rolled her eyes instead.

"At least I can actually read, you clown," Billie retorted, not looking the least bit amused and Chris just chuckled in amusement as he looked between the two actors.

Most young actresses would never even think of talking to Robert Downey Jr. like that but not Billie Aufderheide. She didn't care who anyone was. He had once seen her tell Justin Bieber to fuck off. Billie came off as very unpleasant to be around and not to mention...bitchy but Chris knew the real her. She was actually very kind and funny once you got to know her.

"I'm just going to stop this before it even begins," Chris told the teenage girl but mostly because Chris thought she was scaring the other young actor. Billie was very scary, after all. There were times she scared Chris which was sad considering the fact that he was a thirty four year old man and she was a seventeen year old girl. "I think what Robert means to say is that we're glad you made it."

"We thought Mackie got lost trying to find you," Kevin told her and Billie shrugged.

"It wouldn't be the first time," She said without skipping a beat.

As usual everyone gave her a weird look because everyone knew Billie Aufderheide was the weirdest person anyone had ever met. Joe Russo shook his head before plastering a smile across his face. Joe and Anthony were often amazed at how well they casted Emma Rogers because Billie and the Viper Assassin were almost like the same person.

Well, except for the killing people part...as far as they knew, at least.

"I believe you're aware of the new screen test," Joe told her and Billie just nodded.

"Yes," Billie said shortly and Joe and Anthony had to just admire how difficult it was to get more than a few words out of the girl. For an actor she really didn't say much. The only people she seemed to talk to were Sebastian and Mackie. She talked a little bit to Evans and Lizzie but other than those four, she was very quiet.

"Well, we have a new actor who's doing the screen test with you today. He's great," Joe said as he began to introduce her to the young actor who was still standing there, looking nervous.

"This is Tom. Tom, This is Billie," The boy's eyes widened as he then realized he would have to introduce himself to the pretty young actress.

"Uh...it's such a pleasure to meet you," The boy said and Billie immediately realized that he was British.

Really?

Another British Spider-Man?

Well, she supposed it could be worse.

At least he wasn't Zac Efron.

"I'm a really big fan of your work," He continued to say.

Billie smelt bullshit.

She honestly doubted he was a big fan of her work. Other than the stuff she did in the MCU, she honestly didn't have much going on for her except for a couple of upcoming indie movies. There was _Let Me In_ as well as _Zombieland_ and not to mention her work on _Mad Men_ but Billie couldn't really picture this guy watching any of that. Most people her age had never seen her work because of how mature some of her roles were.

"Thanks," Billie said quietly and Chris nudged her, gesturing for her to be more polite.

What did he want her to say?

That she was a big fan of his work too?

Billie didn't even know who this guy was. She didn't even know his last name either.

"You too," Billie mumbled awkwardly.

Chris wanted to rip his hair out in frustration at how irritating the teenage girl could be. Would it kill her to be more polite? Chris actually supposed it would.

"Okay, we're just going to discuss something over here so we'll let you two get acquainted," Anthony told them as he then dragged all the others away, except Billie and Tom, to go and have said discussion. Billie honestly doubted they had something important to discuss. She wanted to roll her eyes at how obvious they were.

This was what she got for working with a bunch of men all day.

You would not believe the stupid conversations she would have to listen to.

She had once listened to Mackie talk about what kind of meat he thought everyone was.

Apparently Sebastian was bacon which a small stupid part of Billie agreed with because come on...Sebastian was the best.

Evans was lamb and Hemsworth was obviously an expensive cut of steak.

Mackie claimed that he was salmon but Billie didn't know about that. He also told Billie once that he thought she was streusel but she assumed it was only because of her very German last name and stereotypical German looks. Tallness, blonde hair, blue eyes, and so on. Anyways...Billie's point was that being around all these men all the time was exhausting despite how much she cared about some of them.

The only thing she didn't know, however, was if she was going to like this British kid standing in front of her with an awkward look on his face.

Only time would tell.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie does the chemistry test with Tom Holland, a potential candidate for the role of Peter Parker, and reluctantly admits that he just might be better than the other candidates. Tom is taken back by blunt nature of the seventeen year old actress who while is incredibly beautiful and famous, but is also incredibly odd and grumpy.

“So…you’re the Viper Assassin. That’s pretty cool, right?” The boy said awkwardly as he tried to initiate conversation with Billie. The blonde looked at him with a stoic expression on her face and Tom felt as though he was actually speaking to the Viper Assassin.

The nineteen year old actor was still reeling from the fact that he had just met Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans less than two hours ago. A part of him could barely believe the fact that he was here…on the set of _Captain America: Civil War_.

It was too good to be true.

He had already done seven auditions during the past couple months and now here was the eighth one. He knew there was a large chance he wouldn’t get the part of Spider-Man. There was possibly a larger chance that he wouldn’t get it than if he actually did get it.

It was a one in a million chance, right?

Tom was prepared to lose but he really didn’t want to. He wanted to be Spider-Man more than anything. Ever since he was a little kid he wanted to be Spider-Man and now he was almost there. The only person he had to do another screen test with was Billie Aufderheide.

Speaking of which…

He felt a little starstruck standing in front of said American actress.

While Tom wasn’t familiar with the actress’s work outside of the MCU, other than _Zombieland_ , he did know that she had starred in a couple of horror films and not to mention the highly acclaimed series _Mad Men_. _American Horror Story_ too. He was pretty sure she was in the season about the witches but he couldn’t be sure. Horror films weren’t really Tom’s cup of tea. Tom hadn't seen _Mad Men_ either although he had heard a lot of amazing things about it...enough to know that Billie Aufderheide was an incredibly talented and famous actress.

Even though Tom wasn't familiar with a lot of her work, outside a couple indie films she had done, he had become a very big fan of the Viper Assassin ever since seeing her in _The Winter Soldier._

How could you not be a fan of the Viper Assassin?

She was a complete bad ass and not to mention one of the most complex characters in the MCU. But a small part of Tom wondered if Billie Aufderheide actually was the Viper Assassin because she was kind of giving him those weird vibes right now.

There was also something both beautiful and intimidating about the actress.

It might’ve been the fact that she was much taller than Tom had ever imagined. The actress was possibly an inch taller than him and she really made it obvious with the way she looked down at him with those stunning blue eyes of hers. They were the eyes that had garnered her a lot of fame and eyes that were every so often compared to Paul Newman’s baby blues but Tom could now see why. Her eyes were a beautiful color of ocean blue but Tom could also spot tiny flecks of green within them as they stared down at him unabashedly. The American’s long blonde hair was another feature of hers that seemed to match her German sounding last name and Tom really believed that she was, at least, part German. Her blonde locks cascaded past her shoulders and seemed perfectly straight, without a hair out of place.

However, if there was anything that surprised him about the actress, it was the fact that she didn’t dress like how Tom imagined American actresses to dress like. Well, he knew celebrities were just really normal people but the fact that this was an actress who played a character in the MCU kind of made her surreal to Tom.

The blonde was dressed in a pair of jeans, t-shirt, and a pair of dark blue ankle boots with a velvety looking sheen to them. Her shirt appeared to be an old concert t-shirt but Tom didn’t know who the musician was. It looked to be a man wearing an old cowboy hat so Tom could only assume he was a country singer. It wasn’t like Tom would know much about country music anyways.

“You do know it’s just a movie, right? It’s all make believe,” Billie said without thinking. She inwardly winced because she realized that she had been super rude. She knew that she sometimes said things without thinking and now that her mom wasn’t around here to straighten her out, she seemed to be worse than ever. “Sorry…that was rude.”

Tom furiously shook his head even though he had, in all honesty, felt taken back by her statement at first.

“No, no. It wasn’t rude,” Tom said as he smiled politely at her. He was very eager to make friends and hopefully not any enemies around Marvel studios. “I get it. It’s just a part but you have to admit it’s a really cool part. I mean, this whole place is cool. Just look around.”

Billie allowed herself to smile a little at his statement.

“Yeah, it is,” Billie replied, feeling a little amused at the look of wonder on the guy’s face. She once had that same look of wonder on her face just over two years ago. It was funny how many things had happened since then. Tom then returned his gaze to the pretty actress as he looked at her curiously.

“If you don’t mind me asking…where are you from?” Tom asked her curiously and Billie tried not to blush when she realized her accent was showing. She tried to hide it the best she could around strangers but mostly because there was a fair amount of people in the past that told her that her accent was annoying.

A boy she was on a date with once told her that he couldn’t date her because she had the most annoying accent he had ever heard.

That was the last time Billie ever dated a guy from California.

“Somewhere in the south, right?”

“I’m from East Texas,” Billie finally told him and Tom’s eyes widened in realization but mostly from the fact that she was from Texas.

Tom didn’t think he had ever met a Texan before…at least not one with an actual accent like Billie. It was a nice kind of accent though. There was a certain twanginess to it that drew him in and she didn’t sound completely unlike Matthew McConaughey although her accent was nowhere as thick as his. Tom liked it.

“Of course. That’s why Robert called you a Texan,” Tom said as he still glanced curiously over at the blonde. The fact that she was from Texas would explain her slight tan.

Wasn’t Texas very hot?

Well, Georgia seemed to be hot but Texas must’ve been around the same temperature.

“Born and raised,” Billie replied, her accent a bit more pronounced than before, as she smiled at him and Tom decided he really loved her accent despite barely speaking to her for more than five minutes. It was really calming.

Maybe that was why Matthew McConaughey did all those car commercials.

A Texan accent happened to be a really relaxing one. Tom had to admit that this made him more impressed by her in the films because he would’ve never guessed that she would have a Texan accent in real life. Well, he supposed that was just what actors did. He did the same thing when it came to American accents like the one he was using for the audition.

“What about you? You’re from England, right?”

“London, yes,” Tom answered and Billie started becoming more at ease the more she talked to the guy. It was always like this with meeting people. She knew she could be standoffish at first but she just needed time to warm up to a person. Billie smirked at the British actor.

“Great…another British guy playing Spider-Man. Just what we need. Next thing you know Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing Captain America,” Billie said and at first Tom thought she was being serious. It wasn’t until he saw the smirk on her face that he realized that she was just messing with him. He felt a bit more relaxed and not to mention relieved that she didn’t seem to hate him.

Tom also really liked the way she said Benedict Cumberbatch.

“Your sarcasm’s almost British,” Tom told her, looking at her in amusement and Billie just shrugged.

“I like to think my sarcasm’s more Aubrey Plaza,” She retorted and Tom didn’t know who that was. However, before he could even answer, she went on to ask him another question.

“Hey, how old are you anyways? Because you look like you’re fifteen or something,” She said bluntly.

Tom realized that the girl’s bluntness was going to take some getting used to. He didn’t think he had ever met someone who was so blunt and so…unpredictable? Tom wasn’t sure if that was the right word to use. He didn’t even really know her but even after speaking to her for a lengthy amount of time, he still couldn’t figure out how to talk to her.

Tom chuckled.

“I’m actually nineteen,” He told her and Billie was surprised to hear this because she didn’t think that Tom looked nineteen. He didn’t look like he was twelve or anything but he definitely didn’t look nineteen to her either. Wow…he was actually a little bit older than her. “How old are you then?”

Billie seemed a little annoyed that he was the older one.

She wasn’t sure why.

Maybe it was a childish thing or a high school thing at the very least. Billie didn’t go to high school because of her work, having been homeschooled for most of her career, but she was more than aware of the seniority older students felt over the younger ones...at least from what she had seen in movies. That was the whole point of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, after all. The seniors and juniors laughed and teased the cute little freshmen because…well, Billie never understood why but it was probably because of age. She didn’t know how that worked in England but that’s how high school was in America.

In the movies anyways.

“Seventeen,” Billie answered quietly and Tom gave her a surprised look.

She was only seventeen? Tom hadn’t known that. She was actually younger than him which surprised him for some reason. To be perfectly honest, he hadn’t googled the actress or anything although now he kind of wanted to. She seemed to be really…interesting. Well, she seemed to be way more than that and Tom was only beginning to get to know her.

“So this must all be crazy for you. I can’t even begin to imagine going to school and at the same time being in an Avengers movie. You must be quite uh…popular at school,” Tom said in amazement while Billie just shrugged.

The truth was that she never really thought about it like that. The kids back home, the ones who had known her since she was in kindergarten, could really give a shit about her acting career. Everyone was obsessed with football back home and Billie never cared about that anyways.

“Not really. I'm homeschooled and everyone back home only cares if I’ve seen Chris Hemsworth without a shirt on,” Billie said very casually and Tom laughed. He was delightfully surprised by the fact that Billie Aufderheide was actually very funny. She had seemed very reserved and somewhat cold when they were first introduced but now that they had been talking for a while she was actually pretty funny. Tom always thought she was funny in the MCU movies with her very dark sense of humor but maybe that dark sense of humor was more real than he thought.

“You joke about that but I’ve actually seen him without his shirt on,” Tom told her and this drew Billie’s interest. She looked at him very curiously and Tom blushed from the way her ocean blue eyes focused on him. Her gaze was very serious and intense.

“Really?” She said with interest and Tom swallowed hard before nodding.

“We just did a film together. It’s about the story behind Moby Dick,” Tom told her and Billie’s eyes widened in realization.

“That’s the Ron Howard movie. Right…I’ve heard about that one,” Billie said and in all honesty she thought it was very cool that he worked with Ron Howard.

Not many people got to say that.

Billie then gave Tom another curious look. He was a very interesting person, after all. At least to Billie. It wasn’t often that she got to hang around people in her age range within this business. Everyone she mostly spent time with were a lot older than her.

“You look nervous,” Billie stated as she stared at him unabashedly.

Tom blushed again but only because of the intensity of her gaze. He didn’t know why but the younger girl seemed a lot older than she really was. It wasn’t a child actor thing either. This girl just seemed way older.

Maybe it was just her gaze.

When she looked at him like that he felt like she could see right through him.

Tom wasn’t sure if he liked it or didn’t like it.

“Well, this is a slightly nerve wracking experience, after all,” Tom admitted and Billie tried to read the expression on his face. “You know, this is the eighth audition I’ve been on.”

Billie raised her eyebrows at that.

Eighth?

Wow…Billie had only been on five auditions before she got the role although she guessed things were different for Tom. This was Spider-Man he was auditioning for, after all.

“Yeah, I remember that. I had to go through a lot of auditions back when I was auditioning for the Winter Soldier. It was really stressful,” Billie told him, trying to be sympathetic which was a bit awkward for her. She usually was really bad at being polite and nice like a regular human-being. Some people called her bitchy but Billie was just really awkward when it came to interacting with people on an emotional level. She knew she was an actress but in real life emotions were a very complicated matter to her.

Billie was both uncomfortable with expressing too many emotions and at the same time she was uncomfortable with seeing people be emotional. Her mom’s ex-boyfriend had been a therapist and he told her it was because of her father’s absence that she was like that. Billie had sneered at the asshole before calling him a nosy quack who should mind his own business. He had then called her cold and sarcastic demeanor a defense mechanism which had annoyed her even further. Billie was just glad when her mom finally dumped his sorry ass. She made her mom promise her that she would never date another therapist.

Billie didn’t think she could handle that.

“Really?” Tom asked curiously, genuinely interested in hearing about when the young actress had auditioned for the role. Billie nodded. “Did you have to do a screen test with Chris Evans as well?”

Billie just smiled before shaking her head.

“Surprisingly no. Just Sebastian,” Billie answered him and Tom could only assume she meant Sebastian Stan who played the Winter Soldier. Tom was at first surprised to hear that she hadn’t done a screen test with Chris for chemistry but then he started to really think about it and it made sense.

The Viper Assassin and the Winter Soldier had a very close relationship in the movies. Something akin to a father/daughter relationship. It was another reason why Captain America: The Winter Soldier had been one of the best MCU movies in Tom’s opinion. Tom wondered if perhaps Billie and Sebastian were close in real life as well. He knew more than well that a lot of stuff like that was probably still acting but the chemistry still had to be there, right?

“Any words of wisdom?” Tom asked her with a hopeful look on his face and Billie just smirked, looking at him in amusement. She didn’t know what to think of him quite yet. Billie didn’t know if she liked him or disliked him. He seemed nice enough. Way nicer than those other assholes who had auditioned for the role. He didn’t seem conceited or arrogant either which was a plus.

“Don’t fuck it up,” Billie said casually and Tom raised his eyebrows in surprise. It wasn’t so much the words that surprised him but maybe the fact that she had taken such a casual tone when she said them. There was also the fact that Tom didn’t think he had ever heard advice from another actor that was quite like that.

“Great, um…I’ll try not to,” Tom replied and Billie plastered her best charming smile on her face as she looked back at him.

“Relax. If it’s any consolation, you’re like the first guy whose auditioned that doesn’t seem like an asshole,” Billie told him and Tom just laughed. He didn’t really know what to make of the blonde actress. Tom didn’t think he had met anyone who talked like that upon a first meeting.

Tom also couldn’t tell if Billie was kidding or being serious.

“Uh…thanks?” Tom said, not sure if he should take that as a compliment or not. Billie just smiled back at him.

“You’re welcome,” Billie said and Tom was about to answer when the others returned. Joe and Anthony both had wide grins on their faces as they approached the two teenagers while Chris, Robert, and Kevin seemed to tag along in amusement.

“You two seem to be getting along well,” Joe said, seeming delighted that Billie wasn’t glaring at one of the auditioning actors for once. In Billie’s defense, the others ones had been super arrogant and annoying.

“I guess.” Billie mumbled and both Robert and Chris hid their smiles.

Maybe Billie really was just a regular teenager, after all.

She sure acted like it.

Maybe if Tom managed to get the part then it would be good for her. Billie really needed to start hanging out with kids her own age. Being seventeen and you’re only best friend on set being a thirty something year old man was really fucking weird.

“Great,” Anthony said as he clapped his hands together. He looked between the two, starting to feel hopeful that Tom might just be the one. He really hoped so. “Are you two ready for the screen test?”

Tom glanced at Billie who only shrugged.

“Sure," She said as if this was no big deal at all.

For Tom it completely was.

Truthfully, Billie just wanted them to cast Spider-Man already and it might as well be this guy. Billie had only talked to Tom for maybe fifteen minutes but in those fifteen minutes he did nothing to piss her off so she guessed he was fine with her.

As long as he could act.

So what if he was British? British people couldn’t be that bad. Christian Bale had played Batman and he was Billie’s favorite one. She liked Christian Bale a whole lot better than Ben Affleck.

“Okay then. Let’s get into places,” Joe announced and Billie just sighed as she moved over to one side of the room. She sighed because she had done this same thing with what felt like a million different actors these past two months. Billie knew this scene like back of her hand by now. She faintly wondered if this was what Sebastian felt like when he was doing all those screen tests with those different actresses before she came along.

Probably.

At this point Billie just wanted Marvel to make up their damn minds and hire a Spider-Man. Hell, maybe even get Andrew Garfield back if it was that difficult although Andrew Garfield would probably be the oldest looking high schooler there ever was. Seriously…the guy was thirty or something. He looked like he had been held back for ten years.

“Okay, let’s do this, guys,” Anthony said as Billie laid on the floor.

Tom forced himself to remain calm because he was pretty sure this was the last screen test he was going to do. He had already done some with Robert and Chris. Billie was the last one he had to do one with. He tried not to let the fact that this screen test would either make him or break him bother him. Somehow Billie Aufderheide’s strange advice echoed in his head.

Don’t fuck this up.

Joe cleared his throat as he read from the script, trying to set the scene for Billie and Tom.

“The Viper Assassin flies towards Spider-Man, fully planning on ambushing him,” Joe said as he read from the script. “However, he surprises her as he easily catches her mid-flight before throwing her to the ground across the airport. The Viper Assassin tumbles a few times as she reels back in surprise from Spider-Man’s strength. But it doesn’t take her long to recover and come up with a plan. The Viper Assassin smirks mischievously before she acts out her plan. She feigns a look of pain as she clutches her arm to her chest.”

Billie groaned in pain as she made her eyes flood with tears. Forcing herself to cry was just about the most difficult thing she ever had to do since she didn’t consider herself a crier. However, she forced herself to think of the film _The Elephant Man_ which was the only movie that could make her cry.

Elephant Man, Elephant Man, Elephant Man.

Those were the only words that were inside her mind as she brought on her crocodile tears.

“Spider-Man immediately runs over to the Viper Assassin in concern,” Joe read as Tom drew near to the blonde lying on the floor.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?!” Tom exclaimed in character as Peter Parker.

Billie was briefly surprised by his American accent. It was actually really good.

There was a couple of other British actors who could fake a pretty good American accent but this guy’s sounded real. He sounded like he was legitimately from New York…not that Billie knew many people from New York but she thought his accent was good. However, she didn’t have time to contemplate his accent as much as she stayed in character. Billie sniffled as she shook her head furiously.

“I think I broke my arm,” She whimpered and Tom crouched down as if he were examining her injury. He had a caring look on his face as he looked at her in concern.

Um…wow, Billie thought to herself.

Now that he was so close to her she noticed that he was actually a little cuter than she thought. Billie didn’t know if it was because he had a kind look on his face as he loomed over her or because he was just so close to her. Billie didn’t really know how to describe how his eyes looked to her. Maybe kind. Yes, his eyes looked kind. If Billie was being perfectly honest then she had to admit she got lost in those eyes for a moment there.

“Let me take a look,” Tom said softly as he hovered over her like he was going to try and help her. His hand gently touched her wrist and Billie tried to calm down.

This wasn’t the first time she felt this way around other actors.

Come on.

She worked in a business where she was constantly surrounded by really hot guys. Billie was a lot of things but she wasn’t blind. Her heart raced like this whenever she was around Chris Hemsworth because that guy was literally a god. Jon Hamm had also played her on-screen father for eight years too so Billie spent a lot of time around attractive actors.

“The Viper Assassin then reveals her true nature to Spider-Man,” Joe said as Billie’s look of pain then morphed into a stoic expression. She then wrapped her legs around his waist and flipped the both of them over with barely any effort. It was a move that she was proud of and one she had been working on with her trainer for the past few months. Usually she practiced it on a much bigger man than Tom so she didn’t find it that difficult in the moment.

Tom fought the urge to gasp in surprise as she flipped them over.

Wow…that was impressive. Like, _very_ impressive.

He knew that this scene was supposed to be a big moment for the two characters in the midst of the airport fight sequence but this was something else. Tom swallowed hard as the actress loomed over him, pinning his wrists to the floor. He didn’t know if he was scared or a little attracted to her in that moment.

Maybe he was both.

The look on her face was cold as she stared at him and her long blonde hair cascaded around them. It was almost like her hair was a curtain and they were locked in their own private little moment. Tom also couldn’t help but notice that her hair smelled really nice. Almost tropical or something. He wondered what kind of shampoo she used.

“You really shouldn’t help the enemy,” Billie told him as a smirk came over her face. Tom scoffed.

“Well, excuse me for trying to be a gentlemen,” He replied back as he forced himself not to forget the lines he had only just memorized not that long ago. He had only been allowed to read the script in a small room off one of the Russo brothers’ iPad. Tom was worried he’d forget a line and especially with the way the beautiful actress was sitting on top of him. Tom wasn’t blind to the actress’s beauty. Somehow the blonde seemed to be even more beautiful in person which wasn’t surprising to Tom.

Hollywood was full of pretty actresses, right?

It wouldn’t be unusual for him to find her attractive although Tom wasn’t stupid enough to think he could have a chance with her. She was surrounded by attractive men all day and she might not even be that great of a person.

Chris Hemsworth had actually given his some really great advice when he heard he was auditioning for Spider-Man. He told him to make sure he stayed grounded and didn’t change which probably meant not losing himself over a beautiful actress he met just because she had really pretty eyes.

Well, actually quite beautiful eyes.

Now that her face was just mere inches from his, he could see that her eyes were the closest shade to the ocean that he had ever seen in a person’s eyes before. Tom then scolded himself for getting off track again. This was stupid. His career was on the line here and he couldn’t get distracted by an actress’s eyes…even if they were really beautiful eyes.

“Being nice isn’t going to help you win a fight,” Billie told him as she gave him a curious look like it said in the script. Tom just stared back at her, feigning a transfixed look on his face although he didn’t think he had to act much when it came to that.

“Did you know that you have little flecks of green in your eyes?” He asked her suddenly and Tom wondered if the writers had purposefully written that into the script because Billie’s blue eyes actually really did contain small traces of green within them. Billie gave him a confused look.

“What the hell are you talking about?” She questioned demandingly. Tom also couldn’t help but notice that she had managed to make her very distinct Texan accent disappear. He had been working on his New Yorker Queens accent for a little while now in preparation for the part although he noticed the accent Billie was going with for Emma was more general American. Despite how amazed he was at the change of accents, he couldn’t help but miss the cute Texas twang she had.

“Your eyes…they’re incredibly blue but there’s also bits of green in them too,” He said in an almost dreamy voice. “They’re actually really pretty.”

Billie glared down at the boy and she couldn’t help but be thankful that the Russo brothers weren’t making this a love at first sight thing between Emma Rogers and Peter Parker. Billie was fairly sure that Emma wasn’t that kind of girl. Emma wasn’t just going to fall in love with Spider-Man because he spouted some bullshit about her eyes. Spider-Man on the other hand seemed like a little cheesy nerd who had no problem with telling the Viper Assassin she had pretty eyes.

What kind of fool did that?

You don’t tell the Viper Assassin she has pretty eyes unless you have a death wish or something. Spider-Man was just lucky that the Viper Assassin found him interesting enough not to murder.

“Before the Viper Assassin has a chance to respond to Spider-Man’s statement, Iron Man interrupts the moment and blasts Viper with his repulser beam. She goes flying across the landing strip and away from Spider-Man. Emma looks up at Tony with a furious look in her eyes,” Joe said as he wrapped up the scene. “And…scene.”

And just like that the screen test was over.

Billie didn’t waste any time getting off the British actor and standing up from the ground. Tom was still in a bit of a dazed state after the scene ended. He was a little confused at what just happened. For a moment there he felt like it was only the two of them there.

No others…just him and Billie.

Tom was then thrown off a bit by the loud round of applause from Joe, Anthony, Robert, Chris, and Kevin. The sound of their applause managed to snap him out of his thoughts as he looked up at all of them. Billie offered a hand to him to help him off the floor because although she was very reserved, she was a proper southern lady and had been taught manners by her mother.

Tom took the girl’s hand despite his bewilderment and she helped him to his feet.

“That was amazing, you guys,” Joe said in excitement as he and his brother practically skipped over to them.

“Yeah, you really just blew us all away,” Anthony added as he grinned at Billie and Tom. Billie rolled her eyes at the two grown men.

“Jesus Christ. You two nerds need to get a grip.” Billie retorted and Tom was delighted to see that she had gone back to her Texan accent which he was really starting to admire. Everyone collectively laughed at the teenage girl as they shook their heads in amusement. Tom was slowly starting to realize that no one was offended by the blonde’s heckling.

They were actually charmed by it.

“Thank you,” Tom said to Joe and Anthony. He was delighted that the two directors seemed pleased with his performance. Even Robert and Chris seemed pleased as they smiled at both him and Billie. Little did Tom know that the two actors were just happy that a screen test between Billie and an auditioning actor went well. The other actors who auditioned with Billie seemed to lack any real chemistry with the actress but this time it was different. It didn’t seem bland or awkward like all the other times.

It seemed almost…perfect.

“Great job, Tom,” Kevin congratulated and both Robert and Chris nodded in agreement.

“Thank you, guys. I hope that was okay,” Tom said politely and even though he felt really good about the audition, he still felt somewhat nervous about whether or not he was going to get this part. He thought he did a good job but there had been other auditions in the past that he felt good about but didn’t manage to get.

“Are you kidding me, kid?” Robert said as he grinned at the nineteen year old. “That was fantastic.”

“Yeah, you really nailed it,” Chris added. They both then looked at Billie for her to give her input. However, the blonde’s response shocked no one as she shrugged and glanced at the British actor.

“You weren’t half bad,” Billie told him very casually.

The three actors stared at the girl silently.

Robert and Chris wanted to face palm because it was insanely difficult to get a compliment out of that girl. She was probably the worst person to hand out compliments ever. The worst part was that she actually thought she was being nice. Tom didn’t know whether or not the blonde actress was complimenting or insulting him but he just smiled at her anyways and decided not to question her odd words.

“Um…thanks. I think,” Tom told her and Billie just smiled back at him.

This guy was way too easy to freak out. In a way, he was even easier to mess with than Mark Ruffalo. She kind of hoped that they did hire him because Billie thought that maybe…just maybe…it could be fun to have him around. Oh, the fun Mackie was going to have with this kid if he got the part. Billie couldn’t even begin to imagine Mackie’s schemes if this kid hung around. He’d probably finally leave poor Mark Ruffalo alone once and for all.

“You’re welcome, Tim,” Billie said, getting his name wrong on purpose. Chris gave her a stern look, almost like he was a father scolding a daughter, but Billie didn’t pay him any attention. Robert just looked incredibly amused by the two teenagers.

“It’s Tom, actually,” He said carefully, not knowing if she had actually forgotten his name or if she was just messing with him. Tom had a feeling that this girl was very strange. He didn’t know why but he just got that impression from her. Billie just smirked at him before feigning an innocent look.

“That’s what I said,” Billie said even though everyone knew fully well that it was a lie but they didn’t call her out on it.

“Right…” Tom said awkwardly, not knowing how else to respond to the eccentric actress. And to think he thought Robert was eccentric for arriving at the audition via helicopter. This girl seemed to take the cake for oddness and she didn’t even have to arrive in a helicopter.

“We’re just going to borrow Tom for a bit,” Kevin announced as he and the Russo brothers broke out of their private conversation to turn back to the actors. “We’re just going to discuss a couple things. Is that alright with you, Tom?”

Tom swallowed hard before he nodded furiously. He seemed incredibly nervous but Billie didn’t blame him. She had also been really nervous after her screen test with Sebastian all those years ago. A part of her had even thought she completely bombed the screen test. Marvel gave a person a lot of mixed signals like that.

“Yeah, sure. Of course,” Tom said as he looked hesitantly back at the three actors who were staring at him. Chris and Robert gave him encouraging looks while Billie just looked at him in amusement.

“Great,” Kevin said as he threw his arm over the boy’s shoulder and the Russo brothers then turned to Chris, Robert, and Billie.

“You three can head back to your hotel rooms if you want. I think we’re finished for the da,.” Joe told them and everyone sighed in relief, including Billie.

“Thank god! I’m sweating more than a whore in church right now. You guys need to get the AC fixed in this place,” Billie said loudly and Tom’s eyes widened in surprise at what she just said.

Did she say what he thought she said?

Sweating more than a whore in church?

What did that even mean?

Well, he kind of understood what it meant but it was still a very odd saying. Especially for a seventeen year old girl. Robert and Chris snickered at the boy’s reaction to Billie’s words while Kevin, Joe, and Anthony just rolled their eyes.

Typical Billie.

“Yeah, we’ll send someone right on it, Billie,” Kevin told her and he really hoped she wasn’t scaring Tom away because that was the last thing they needed after the audition went so well. He then began to lead the teenage boy away as he and the Russo brothers started chatting excitedly with Tom about the audition. They were excited because they were really certain that they had found their Spider-Man this time. That much was obvious with the chemistry between him and Billie during the audition. They might’ve really found the Spider-Man to Billie’s Viper Assassin and nothing thrilled them more.

“You think he got it?” Billie asked Chris and Robert quietly once she was sure the others were out of ear shot.

It didn’t escape her notice that the British actor had glanced over his shoulder back at her a couple times. She just dismissed it as him being weirded out by her odd saying. Billie didn’t think she was the typical Texan who threw out weird Southern sayings every chance she got but there were a couple occasions that she did just to get a reaction out of her co-stars. It worked most of the time although she thought Tom’s reaction was the most hilarious.

“I think so,” Chris said as he stared in wonder after the actor. “He was really good. I think the best so far. I mean, did you see all those backflips he did earlier?”

“He can do backflips?” Billie questioned and Chris nodded. She thought she remembered Mackie mentioning to her that the auditioning actor had some experience in gymnastics but she wasn’t sure. She hadn’t really been paying attention to him at the time anyways.

“Yeah, he’s a dancer. Didn’t Mackie tell you? He used to be in Billy Elliot,” Chris told her and Billie raised her eyebrows at that. A dancer? Like, a ballerina or what? Maybe he was like Patrick Swayze. Ooh…that would be kind of cool. Billie knew Patrick Swayze had been a dancer too and Swayze was like the coolest person ever(not to mention a fellow Texan).

RIP Swayze.

“Like the musical?” Billie questioned and both Robert and Chris gave her surprised looks.

They knew that Billie had a strong dislike for musicals.

She said it was because people randomly breaking into song made her uncomfortable but they just dismissed it as being another odd quirk of the actress. It was clear to everyone that Billie Aufderheide definitely wasn’t the musical theater type. She was probably the opposite. Billie in a musical was probably something like if Harrison Ford or Tommy Lee Jones did a musical. You just couldn’t comprehend or imagine something like that happening. Pigs would fly before Billie ever starred in a musical.

“You know what _Billy Elliot_ is?” Robert asked her in surprise and Billie glared at him.

“I’m not some backwoods redneck! I’m cultured just like you, Mr. Hollywood,” Billie said to Robert but he was just trying to get a rise out of her. Whenever she was angry, her Texan accent became super thick.

It was really cute and funny.

Chris gave Robert a pointed look because the last thing they wanted was to piss off the young actress. Billie would never admit it but the only reason she had even heard about the musical _Billy Elliot_ was because she saw a preview of it once when she rented that one McConaughey rom-com.

“No, I think Robert means to say that we thought you hated musicals,” Chris said calmly and Billie huffed as she crossed her arms.

“I never said I hated them. I just said they make me uncomfortable,” Billie told them as she defended herself. “Besides…there is one musical I like and it’s-“ However, she never finished as both Chris and Robert rolled their eyes and answered in unison.

“ _Best Little Whorehouse in Texas_ …we know,” They said tiredly and Billie narrowed her eyes at them.

“Don’t take those little snobby tones with me. Say what you want but _Best Little Whorehouse in Texas_ is a classic,” Billie said, almost too eager to defend her favorite musical and the only one she could stand to watch. “It’s Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton in one movie. What more could you possibly ask for?”

“We weren’t insulting Burt and Dolly. You can relax now, Billie,” Chris told her as he tried to make sure they didn’t offend her in some way. There was no doubt in his mind that Billie was a real weird girl. He didn’t remember what a lot of the teenage girls were like back in high school but he was fairly confident that none of them were like Billie.

No, Billie was a rare sort.

“Anyways…” Robert said as he decided it was about time to change the subject before Billie starting going on about her love for all things Burt Reynolds.

Burt Reynolds was just another actor that Billie weirdly admired. Robert didn’t get the odd fascination a teenage girl could have with an actor like Burt Reynolds but whatever made her happy. He questioned what actors like Burt Reynolds, John Wayne, Kurt Russell, Vincent Price, James Garner and Paul Newman had that attracted Billie to them but he didn’t think he wanted to find out. Billie was an odd young woman, after all.

“I think he did a really great job. The kid’s amazing.”

“What do you think, Billie?” Chris asked her and the blonde tried to play it cool as she shrugged nonchalantly.

“He was pretty good. Way better than those other assholes,” Billie said, being her usual blunt and weird self. Chris just knew that was high praise coming from the Texan. That meant that she actually liked Tom and thought he was the guy for the part. It was way more than what she said about the other guys who had auditioned. Robert then smirked at the girl as something else came to mind.

“He’s not bad looking either. Isn’t that right, Bills?” Robert said to her and Billie narrowed her eyes at the legendary actor. God, she really hated that stupid nickname.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Billie questioned and Robert continued to give her that smug look that he always gave her whenever he tried to be funny. Keyword being tried because Billie didn’t think he was as funny as he thought he was.

Robert shrugged casually.

“He’s kind of cute. Don’t you think? He’s also around your age and not to mention he’s got that cute little British accent. Don’t girls your age go wild over a British guy?” Robert said, trying to get a rise out of her and it worked. Billie narrowed her eyes at the man while Chris eyed the two like he was matching a tennis match.

“You listen up, Hollywood. I’m not one of those directioners who fawns over some guy who drives on the wrong side of the road,” Billie said and both Chris and Robert were trying to resist the urge to laugh. Billie was always so funny when she got riled up like this. “I’m also a professional so I don’t make a habit of batting my eyelashes at some random actor with a pretty face.”

Robert didn’t hide his amusement this time as he continued to tease the young actress.

“Aw…Bills, you think he has a pretty face?” Robert teased as he smirked at her. Chris also started laughing although both Robert and Billie were careful that he didn’t go in for that weird iconic boob grab thing he always did whenever he laughed. “That’s so sweet. Why don’t you go ask him out?”

Billie groaned in frustration as she glared at the actor.

“Are you two done with your comedy show yet?” Billie asked them sarcastically but the two actors just continued to tease her about Tom.

How the hell was Downey even married?

She really pitied Susan.

“Maybe you should ask him to the prom? I’m sure he’d be happy to go,” Chris said as he joined in on the teasing. “Don’t you need a date to prom? This is the perfect occasion for a Promposal.”

Billie just shook her head at the two, practically fuming but also knowing that she had enough of these two idiots. She was going to go back to her hotel room and forget she ever had this stupid conversation with these two dumbasses. A couple hours into _The Mindy Project_ and she would forget these two idiots even existed. She was sure of it.

“Fuck off. I’m leaving. You two losers have fun on your own,” Billie grumbled as she then proceeded to walk away from them. Robert and Chris both laughed at her grumpy demeanor. It was too easy to get her all flustered.

“Come on, Billie! We were just kidding!” Chris said as he tried to get her to come back but Billie was too tired to deal with their teasing.

“Don’t make me call your mother, young lady! That’s no language for a girl your age!” Robert called after her teasingly and Billie responded by flipping him off. The older actor just chuckled as she continued to walk away until she walked through the door and exited the building. The two actors then turned to each other.

“This will be good for her, won’t it…having someone her age on set?” Chris asked Robert as he stared at the door she just walked out of. Robert just smiled as he nodded, clapping his friend on the back.

“I think so. She needs to have more friends. You know, getting out more and being a teenager. That sort of thing,” Robert said thoughtfully.

Chris completely agreed with the actor. He always noticed that the teenage girl was something like a hermit whenever she wasn’t due to shoot a scene. Billie always had the tendency of locking herself in her trailer and keeping to herself unless Mackie or Seb were available. Sometimes Chris really worried about her. She was like everyone’s baby sister on set so of course everyone tended to worry about her. However, maybe now that there would be someone her own age on set, she would get out more and do more teenage-ry things.

“I just hope she doesn’t scare the kid away,” Robert told Chris and the younger actor sighed heavily. It wouldn’t be the first time that Billie scared someone with her bold and brash behavior. This new actor was just going to need to take some time to get to know her. That’s all. Once Billie let you in then you were a friend for life. Hopefully, Billie would react to this new actor in the same way. Otherwise, Kevin was going to have a tough time if the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man couldn’t get along.

“Me too, Robert…me too.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief glimpse into Billie's past is seen before she finds herself unadmittingly happy that Tom's been cast into the movie. A certain Romanian-American actor also makes an appearance as he teases her about the newbie on set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at times I know it might seem like Billie's bashing certain celebrities but she's really only being her weird usual self. I also don't own any of the lyrics to 'King of Broken Hearts'. The song entirely belongs to George Strait and his team of incredible songwriters.

**_Lindale, Texas_ **

**_2005_ **

_There was a heat wave that went through Texas that one spring day._

_Heat waves weren’t uncommon but that Saturday in May was hotter than all the rest. It was a peaceful day despite the heat and humidity. Lindale was a small town that didn’t have more than four thousand people but it was a tight knit community._

_There wasn’t much to do in Lindale._

_There was an old, broken down theater in the middle of town with garbage bags hanging over the broken seats and ducktape trying to hold the cup holders up. Sometimes the audio went out during the middle of the movie which sucked but it was all everyone had in Lindale. The theater was built back in the fifties and it was a miracle it was still standing since the maintenance was terrible. There was also a diner in town that was packed every Sunday morning both before and after church. Then were was the Whataburger parking lot where all the teenagers frequented as they smoked their cigarettes and goofed off._

_Those were really the three highlights of Lindale...or at least at the time. This was before Lindale was the proud home of celebrities…a list that really only consisted of two people. Miranda Lambert and Billie Aufderheide which still wouldn’t happen for some time. This was pre-House That Built Me Miranda Lambert and it was also pre-Viper Assassin Billie Aufderheide. Not that any of that was important but anyways…_

_In a small house out in the country lived a young and happy family. The house was a tiny one, probably built in the thirties, but it was just enough for the McCallister family. Two bedrooms and one bathroom could be tough to manage but the family was happy. Or at least they thought they were before everything went down hill._

_The mother was away at work while the father and daughter remained inside the small, quiet house. The sunlight filtered in through the large window in the living room. Every window in the house was open but it wasn’t like it made a difference anyways. There was no nice breeze that wafted through the air so they also had a couple of fans going too. The ceiling fan was on full blast as the father and daughter kept cool in the living room._

_“Daddy, when can we go play some ball? I’m bored., Seven year old Billie complained loudly. The young father chuckled at his daughter who was already seven years old._

_“It’s too hot for baseball right now, darlin’,” Ethan McCallister told her and Billie pouted._

_“Well, we could go play baseball and then get ice cream to cool down,” Billie pointed out and Ethan just smiled at her before shaking his head._

_“You always now how to make a good argument, Billie. You should be a car salesmen or a politician someday," Ethan said and Billie made a face._

_“No way,” Billie told him._

_“Well, then. What do you want to be?” He asked her and Billie smiled at him with a smile that had a couple of baby teeth missing. It was a smile that made Ethan’s heart warm._

_“I want to do something fun…like be a baseball player or play guitar like you do, daddy,” Billie told him proudly and Ethan just laughed. He affectionately ruffled her hair, causing the seven year old to giggle._

_“You can be whatever you want, Billie,” Ethan told her as he looked at her in amusement. “Tell you what. In a couple hours we’ll go play some ball and we’ll get some ice cream too after. But til then, we can entertain ourselves with a little George Strait.”_

_Billie’s father then grabbed the acoustic guitar that had been lying on the couch next to him. The little girl squealed in excitement as she eagerly watched her father place his fingers on the frets of the guitar._

_“What song are you gonna play, Daddy?” Billie asked her father and he just grinned at her._

_“What song do you want me to play, darlin’?” He asked and Billie gave his question some thought but the answer was always the same. She always loved it when her father played her favorite song on earth…Their song._

_“Play that song we love so much. The one from the George Strait movie, Billie said and Ethan chuckled because he knew exactly what she was talking about._

_“Anything you want,” He told her before he started strumming his guitar and Billie watched on in fascination. She watched her father in awe as he began to sing in what she thought was the most beautiful voice._

_Second only to the legendary George Strait himself._

_“The king of broken hearts doesn’t ask much from his friends. And he has quite a few of them. They know he will understand. That’s just the way it goes,” Ethan sang as Billie smiled at him, secretly hoping that she might sing and play guitar as well as her father someday. Maybe she’d play baseball as well as him too. “The king of broken hearts doesn’t know he’s a king. He’s tryin’ to forget other things. Like some old ship at sea, he’s walkin’ through life alone.”_

_“Come on, Darlin’,” Ethan said, indicating that Billie join him in on the chorus. Billie smiled brightly at him before she happily did so, singing with her father as he played guitar._

_“He talks to angels and the stars start to spin. He thinks of troubles that he’s gotten in,” They both sang as they also smiled at each other._

_Billie eyes gleamed with happiness because she enjoyed these moments with her father. A part of her thought her father was destined for fame someday. He was the coolest person she knew and he had this air about him that she imagined only famous people like Brad Pitt had._

_“He recalls how his heart got broken and how it’s still that way.”_

_“The king of broken hearts is so sad and wise. He can smile while he’s cryin’ inside,” They both sang and Billie wished that her father and her could be like this all the time. Just the two of them. “We know he’ll be brave tonight ‘cause he’s the king of broken hearts.”_

_They were about to sing the second verse when the front door of the house opened._

_The father and daughter pair stopped what they were doing when Sarah McCallister walked in from outside._

_A twenty three year old woman, who looked like an older version of Billie with her blonde locks and gorgeous blue eyes, glanced at her husband and daughter in confusion as she stepped into the living room. Sarah had just come home during her lunch break from her job as a vet tech at the local veterinarian clinic. Billie smiled at her mother from her seat next to her father and she briefly admired her mother’s beautiful looks despite how tired her mother looked. Billie always hoped that she would be as beautiful as her mother when she grew up. Billie’s father always assured her that she was already beautiful like her mother but Billie would only believe it when she sees it._

_“What’s Billie doing here?” Sarah said in a confused voice as her eyes glanced back and forth between her husband and daughter. Ethan nervously chuckled as he set_   
_down his guitar._

_“What do you mean? She lives here,” Ethan said and Sarah scoffed._

_“I mean what is she doing here right now? It’s noon. She should be at school,” Sarah said and Ethan shrugged._

_“I thought she could have the day off. It’s just one day and besides…Billie told me that they were just going to do a bunch of boring kid stuff today,” Ethan said as he tried to dismiss Sarah’s concern like it was nothing. Ethan then grinned down at Billie._

_“Isn’t that right, Billie? You’re too grown up for that boring ole’ kid stuff anyways,” Billie eagerly nodded._

_“That’s right, Mommy. All we were going to do was a bunch of coloring. Why do I need to go to school for that? I can just do that at home," Billie said and Ethan nodded in agreement. Sarah placed her hands on her hips as she narrowed her eyes in anger. Billie immediately took a step back as she looked down at the ground fearfully._

_However, it wasn’t Billie that Sarah was mad at._

_“Go to your room, Billie,” Sarah said sharply. Billie looked up in surprise at her mother._

_“But Mommy-“ Billie started to say but her mother gave her a stern look._

_“I said go to your room,” Sarah said and Ethan gave his daughter a soft look._

_“Just do what your mom says, Billie. We’ll go play some ball in a little while," Ethan told her, trying to put her at ease. Billie smiled back at her father before nodding and doing what he told her to. She quickly skipped off to her bedroom, leaving her parents alone in the living room._

_The seven year old sat herself inside her small, tiny bedroom that was littered with various toys Billie had picked up here and there. Most of her toys were used. Her parents couldn’t afford to buy her new toys so her toys came second hand either from thrift stores or garage sales. The small girl never minded because a toy was a toy to her. Billie didn’t care much for dolls as it would turn out so most of her toys turned out to be plastic horses that she played with so much that the paint wore out. Billie sat down on her bed and immediately clutched her thrift store edition stuffed alligator to her chest for comfort as she prepared herself for the inevitable fight._

_They always seemed to be fighting these days._

_“What are you doing, Ethan?” She heard her mother say._

_“School bores her, Sarah. Billie’s too smart for all those other kids,” Her father responded._

_“What? So you take her out of school just because you think she’s bored there?” Sarah said in disbelief. “You can’t do that, Ethan. She’s just a little girl. She needs to go to school.”_

_“Relax. It was just one day,” Ethan told her and Sarah scoffed._

_“You don’t get it. It’s not just the fact that you took her out of school for no good reason but it’s the fact that you fill her head with all your-your…bullshit,” Sarah told him and Billie knew this fight was going to be just as bad as all the rest. “She’s listens to everything you say.”_

_“And that’s a bad thing?” Ethan questioned._

_“Yes, it is,” Sarah retorted. “Look at you, Ethan. You’re a high school drop out. You won’t even go back to get a GED.” Ethan scoffed._

_“High school is a waste of time. We both know that. They don’t teach you any of the shit you need to survive in the real world,” Ethan stated and Sarah laughed humorlessly._

_“Well, a GED would sure help you get an actual job. You can’t even hold down a job for more than two weeks," Sarah argued as she raised her voice._

_“I don’t like being told what to do by anyone," Ethan said as he huffed in annoyance._

_“I don’t give a shit what you like. We can’t afford the rent on this house, Ethan. I can’t do this on my own,” Sarah said, sounding fearful and desperate._

_Tears spilled from Billie’s eyes as she held onto her stuffed gator even tighter._

_“Don’t worry about it. We’re going to be fine,” Ethan told her but Sarah wasn’t having any of it._

_“No, we’re not. Not if you can’t keep a job,” Sarah told him, holding her ground._

_“God, you always nag me all the fucking time. Can’t I get a break?” Ethan said bitterly._

_“Break? That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re always on a break…you never work,” Sarah said and her voice sounded like she was two minutes from breaking down and crying. “My father was right about you.”_

_“Your fucking father! That’s all I hear about all the goddamn time. Why don’t you go back to daddy? Oh, that’s right. He kicked your ass out the second he found out you were knocked up,” Ethan retorted sarcastically and Billie heard footsteps shuffling from the other room._

_“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Sarah asked as she sniffled, her voice sounding weak from Ethan’s hurtful statement._

_“Out. I’m going to need a drink after this shit show,” Ethan said, sounding pissed off._

_Billie flinched when she heard the screen door shut loudly. Billie cried silently as she heard her father’s car engine start up before the distinct sound of rubber from his tires hitting the pavement as he screeched down the road and went wherever he went when he claimed that he needed a break from her and her mother. Billie never held it against him though._

_Her father never meant it, right? He was just mad and was saying things he didn’t necessarily mean._

_Billie could hear her mother crying from the other room but she was too scared to leave her room. She was too scared to see her mother cry and too scared to hear her mother say that she didn’t love her father anymore. Billie didn’t think she could bear it._

_“Shhhh, Mr. Gator,” Billie whispered to her alligator as she pretended to comfort him, willing the tears to stop and hoping that everything would be okay. T_

_he seven year old buried her face in the softness of the stuffed animal as she forced herself to think of anything else. Her mind then went back to the moment only fifteen minutes ago when her father and her were singing their favorite song in the living room. The memory at that point in Billie’s life had been a happy one but it turned into a bitter memory many years later when she buried it as far deep within herself as she could. Billie kissed Mr. Gator on his forehead gently as she snuggled against him._

_“It’ll be okay, Mr. Gator. You’ll see.”_

 

* * *

**Present Day**

Billie was reading a book when she heard commotion coming from outside her trailer.

She had just gotten done shooting a tiring scene with Sebastian, Anthony, and Chris that day and had gone back to her trailer to cool off and relax. A lot of the others had been invited for lunch at Downey Town but Billie didn’t really like going to Robert’s assortment of trailers for lunch. He always had weird food like caviar and other rich people food that Billie could really do without. It would be a cold day in hell before Billie ate fish eggs. She might’ve made it big in Hollywood but she still considered herself a Texas girl through and through. Her tastes in food were more along the lines of barbeque and Tex-Mex than fish eggs. People could call her boring all they wanted but Billie still considered a burger at Whataburger fine dining.

The blonde put down her book as she got up from the couch to go look outside the window. She carefully pulled back the curtain of her window a little bit as she curiously looked out the window to see where all the racket was coming from. Billie glanced out and saw exactly what was causing all the noise.

Two people were laughing and chatting loudly amongst each other as one of them showed the other person the trailer.

The first one she recognized as Kevin and the other one she recognized as Tom. The same Tom she had done the screen test with over a month ago. Billie hadn’t really been surprised to hear that he won the part of Spider-Man. He had really nailed his audition, after all. However, she was surprised that Marvel brought him over here so fast considering that they had only announced him as the new Spider-Man a week ago.

Billie had to admit that he was a phenomenal actor. Especially since she recently watched his performance in _The Impossible_. Billie knew that this new movie wasn’t exactly going to be his first rodeo despite her not knowing who he was before. It was clear that he definitely knew what he was doing when it came to acting and he probably had been acting just as long, if not longer, as she had. Kevin and Tom laughed as Tom proceeded to look around his trailer in amazement.

Billie quickly grew bored of watching the newbie so she closed her curtain back up and went back to the couch, plopping back down on top of it as she decided to take a nap. Good for him, she thought to herself. At least he seemed actually excited and happy to be here unlike those other snobby assholes she auditioned with. Billie was just happy they didn’t give the part to Zac Efron.

At least, there was that.

This guy might’ve been British but Billie was just happy that he wasn’t Zac Efron. Before Billie could give the subject anymore thought, she heard a knock on her trailer door. She buried her face in her pillow, hoping that whoever was there would go away.

“Billie, are you in there?” She heard Sebastian Stan call out to her. Billie groaned.

“Nope,” She called back and the older actor just chuckled as he let himself into her trailer.

Sebastian walked up the steps of her trailer after shutting the door behind himself. Billie peeked up at her friend from her pillow as she relaxed on the couch.

She wasn’t going to lie.

When they first met, Billie may or may not have formed a tiny crush on Sebastian.

It wasn’t anything creepy.

It was probably the same kind of crush teenage girls formed on people like Adam Levine or Chris Hemsworth. The only difference was that Billie happened to know those guys in real life.

It’s not like you could really blame Billie for finding Sebastian handsome. He was a good looking guy and she might’ve been a little nervous working with him at first but after a couple weeks she lost interest and became starstruck when she watched Alexander Skarsgard on _True Blood_. Now that was a good looking guy if she’d ever seen one. But teenage girls were like that. They went through random phases. However, that didn’t stop her from creeping Sebastian out by declaring that she was going to marry him someday. Of course, she was only joking.

“Still being anti-social?” Sebastian questioned as he went straight for her fridge.

“I just wanted to read in peace,” Billie said as she defended herself before she saw Sebastian pull out one of those fancy Italian sparkling juices that someone on set always kept her fridge stocked full of. Billie didn’t know why since she didn’t even like those drinks. She much preferred Arizona tea than anything else. She raised her eyebrows at the man as he opened the can and immediately took a long sip of the juice.

“Why are you raiding my fridge? Don’t you have a fridge of your own?”

“Yeah, but your fridge has all the good stuff,” Sebastian said as he flashed her a smile. “I guess that’s what happens when you become a Cover Girl.”

Billie rolled her eyes.

“I’m not a Cover Girl, you moron. I’m an Urban Decay girl which is licensed by L’Oreal. Two very different things,” Billie told him, referring to the make-up company that gave Billie a shit ton of money just for using their make-up.

“I’m just saying that you’re the one that gets all the expensive drinks. Mackie and I aren’t getting any Sanpellegrino or Fiji water in our trailers,” Sebastian told her and Billie just shrugged.

“You can take all that Italian shit for all I care. I’m not going to drink it,” Billie told him and Sebastian smirked at her.

“Maybe I will,” Sebastian retorted before looking at the girl

It was strange to think that it had only been just a little over two years since he had first met Billie. She had been fourteen, almost fifteen, back then.

God, where did the time even go?

She was almost an adult now. The very thought mystified Sebastian but he supposed it was because he had never really worked with a child actor until he met Billie so the concept of watching her grow up was somewhat strange to him.

Sebastian took another sip of his drink as he walked around Billie’s trailer while Billie just laid on the couch and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep. The Romanian born actor paused before the window and pulled the curtain back as he heard the same sound that captured Billie’s curiosity earlier. He glanced out and noticed the newest member of the cast talking to the Russo brothers and Kevin. Sebastian smirked as he then turned back to look at Billie who was still lying on the couch.

“Hey, Billie,” Sebastian practically sang and Billie didn’t even open her eyes as she shifted on the couch.

“What?” Billie said in annoyance, being her usual pleasant self.

“I see your boyfriend outside,” Sebastian teased and Billie’s eyes shot open as she sat back up on the couch. “I think he misses you, Billie. He looks really lonely.”

She glared at her friend and co-star.

“You’ve been talking to Mackie too much, you know that?” Billie spat as she sighed heavily before getting up from the couch. Sebastian just laughed at the annoyed look on her face.

“Don’t be like that, Billie,” Sebastian said as he continued to smirk at her. “You wouldn’t want to scare your boyfriend away.”

“What are you? Five?” Billie questioned and Sebastian was really enjoying this way too much. He didn’t having any siblings growing up but he imagined that this was what it was like to have a little sister to annoy. That was what Billie was, after all. She was everyone’s baby sister on set.

“You can pretend all you want but Evans told us all about how you two stared lovingly into each other’s eyes at the screen test,” Sebastian told her and Billie glowered at him. She had that look on her face that scared most people, mostly sensitive people like Ruffalo, but Sebastian wasn’t intimidated. Billie pointed her finger in his direction as she gave him her best death glare.

“I don’t look lovingly into anyone’s eyes, Stan,” Billie told him, making it very clear that she hadn’t gone all lovestruck over some random actor she didn’t even really know. Billie didn’t get lovestruck over any guy. “Especially ones that drive on the wrong side of the road like Harry Potter over there.”

“I know you think his accent’s cute, Billie,” Sebastian said smugly which only frustrated her more because Billie thought no such thing. “Just admit it. You can deny it all you want but the teenage girl within you thinks that his accent’s really cute. I know you probably listen to One Direction in secret too. They’re probably your favorite band.”

“You, Mackie, and Evans are like those gossiping, nosy old church ladies back home,” Billie hissed as she crossed her arms.

“So I’ll tell you the same thing I tell those old bats…mind your own goddamn business,” However, Sebastian was still as smug and teasing as ever.

“So you do think he’s cute,” Sebastian teased and Billie was quickly growing more and more furious by the second. Sebastian obviously knew Billie didn’t have cuddly feelings for the new kid but he just loved messing with her. “Maybe you should ask him out. You two would make a cute couple.”

“Shut up,” Billie grumbled but it was only when Sebastian said the next thing that she truly got pissed off. He gave her an innocent look but his smirk told her otherwise.

“Well, would you look at that. Billie has a thing for British guys.” Sebastian told her before he said that one thing that pissed her off the most. “I read somewhere that British guys are the world’s second worst lovers. Let me know your take on that.”

 

* * *

Tom was sitting on the front steps of his trailer as he went about texting a couple of his friends back home…after sending them a couple pictures of the set, of course.

Well, he knew he wasn’t really supposed to send pictures since Marvel prohibited it but who was he hurting?

Besides…this was way too cool not to talk about. Everyone told him how Marvel was going to flip his world upside down and he was beginning to understand what they meant. Ever since Marvel made the announcement of his casting, his Instagram and Twitter acquired a ton of new followers. It was insane. Even his family was shocked that he had actually been casted in such a big movie.

Tom had just received a text from Harrison when something else caught his attention. He watched in utter shock and surprise as none other than Sebastian Stan stumbled out of the trailer next to his. The older man snickered as the trailer door flung open and all Tom saw was a pair of hands throw out what looked to be a six pack of some kind of drink.

What in the world was going on here?

“And take your Italian shit with you!” Tom heard a Texan accented voice yell out.

He recognized the voice to be the same one of the strange blonde actress that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for the past month. It was kind of hard to forget about Billie Aufderheide since she was such an…interesting individual. Tom didn’t think he had met another person like her. She was a peculiar girl but Tom thought she was more than a little interesting. He was even a little eager to get to talk to her more but mostly because he thought her accent was quite cute.

“You know you love me, Billie,” Sebastian called back to her but the only response he got was the door slamming in his face.

Tom watched with wide eyes and he wondered if Billie Aufderheide might’ve been one of those actresses with an ego. Was she the one on set that people always tried to avoid? Tom wasn’t sure. However, it was only when he saw the amused look on Sebastian’s face that he realized that it wasn’t the case. Sebastian picked up the six pack of Sanpellegrino before he casually glanced over at the wide eyed newbie staring at him.

The older man just smirked at the kid.

“And that’s why they say don’t mess with Texas,” Sebastian quipped before grinning at the boy. “See you around, kid.”

The actor then proceeded to walk off in the opposite direction with the six pack of sparkling juice. Tom watched him leave, still not understanding what he just witnessed. He was really starting to get the feeling that Billie might’ve been even more interesting than he originally thought. Even so, Tom was still reeling from the fact that he just witnessed the Viper Assassin throwing the Winter Soldier out of her trailer.

How cool was that?


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie and Tom get to know each other a little better in the make-up trailer while discussing all things sports, Downey Town, and sushi. Tom is left no closer in understanding the strange actress.

Billie sat in the make-up trailer as one of the many make-up artists got her ready for her day on set.

Usually Billie didn’t like doing this.

She really hated being fussed over but that was probably because her mother had always been insistent on doing her hair and make-up all the damn time. Hair and make-up was more of her mother’s thing than hers which was why her mother was usually her make-up artist for premieres and events she had to attend. However, Marvel had their own make-up artists for this kind of thing. Billie’s make-up artist for this film was the same one she had for _Age of Ultron_. Her name was Megan and she was a woman in her late twenties. She was a bit too chatty for Billie’s liking but she didn’t mind her that much.

“Anyways…is there any cute guys back home?” Megan asked her as Billie sat in the make-up and hair seat. She had just finished telling Billie about her wedding last fall when Megan decided to turn the conversation over to Billie.

There was indie music playing in the background because Billie was the first one to set and she had been insistent. She didn’t think she could stand to listen to Shawn Mendes or Taylor Swift for the entire hour and half she spent in the make-up trailer. She'd much rather listen to HAIM or Florence+The Machine.

“Come on, Megan, you know I’m much too busy for that,” Billie told her as she looked down at her phone. She was currently texting her mom who was apparently burning down the kitchen back home. Despite being a Texan woman, her mother was really bad at cooking. Billie wasn’t bad when it came to cooking but her mother was a disaster in the kitchen. She was trying to convince her mother to just give up but her mother was almost as stubborn as she was.

“I know but you’re a teenage girl. When I was your age I was so boy crazy,” Megan said as she applied make-up to Billie’s face to make it look like she had a cut across her cheek. They were filming another part of the airport battle today so they really needed to make it look real. “There’s got to be at least one boy you like.”

Billie sighed.

“Fine.” Billie eventually relented. “There’s this one guy named Tyler.”

Billie really didn’t know why everyone was so obsessed with her love life. A part of her thought it might be because most of the cast were all married with children so they were bored.

Old people…

“Ooh, Tyler,” Megan said as she smiled at Billie. “Show me a picture.”

Billie just rolled her eyes but she did as she was told anyways.

The blonde went through her photo library before pulling up his picture on her phone. She showed the older woman the picture of Tyler from last fall’s tailgate party before one of the football games back in her home town. Megan studied the picture as she saw a very handsome African American boy with a million watt smile. The boy had his arm wrapped around Billie as they both smiled at the camera.

“He’s on the football team back home. A linebacker,” Billie said and Megan nodded. The varsity jacket he was wearing made it obvious he was a jock. “We’ve known each other for a long time, since we were kids, but we’ve only recently started hanging out. He’s nice.”

Billie was about to talk about some more but it was then that they were interrupted as a new person came into the trailer. Billie turned in her seat and saw that it was Tom who looked a bit surprised to see her there.

“Uh…I was told that I had to head to hair and make-up first thing,” He told Megan, not looking like he knew what to do with himself. Megan smiled softly at the nineteen year old boy.

“Yes, I think Kristen’s assigned to you and she’ll be here shortly. Have a seat,” Megan told him and Tom just gave her a grateful smile before taking a seat a couple seats down from Billie. And just like that, Billie and Megan returned to their conversation like nothing happened. Megan used one of the make-up brushes to help apply more make-up to Billie’s face.

“So is it serious?” Megan asked her, trying to get more information out of the incredibly vague girl and Billie shrugged. Tom couldn’t help but eavesdrop as he became curious.

Was _what_ serious?

Where they talking about the movie?

Maybe an old injury Billie sustained from filming an action scene?

Tom was very interested to know…well, he was interested in all things involving Billie Aufderheide since she was a very interesting person.

“We’ve gone out a couple times. It’s nothing serious,” Billie told her nonchalantly. “I’m busy with acting and press tours. He’s busy with football. He’s hoping to get recruited into Texas A&M so fingers crossed.”

It soon became clear to Tom that Billie was talking about a boyfriend or love interest. At first he thought she meant football as in English football but then he was quick to realize that Billie probably meant American football. That was a big thing in the states and even more so in Texas or so he heard. It didn’t really surprise him that Billie had a boyfriend nonetheless. It would’ve surprised him if she didn’t. She was very beautiful and not to mention a seemingly unique individual.

“I’m just surprised that you’re interested in a football player. I thought you didn’t like sports,” Megan told her and Billie gave her an offended look.

“I like sports,” She argued. “In case you didn’t know, I used to be the pitcher on the little league boy’s baseball team from first to sixth grade. I have one hell of an arm. Just ask Mackie…he knows. ”

Tom raised his eyebrows at that.

“You played baseball?” Tom asked in surprise, unable to stop himself from asking the question that escaped his lips. Billie gave him an odd look and Tom blushed because he realized that he had been caught eavesdropping on their conversation. Billie didn’t comment on it as she answered his question instead.

“I sure did and I was amazing. Not to brag,” Billie drawled and Tom gave her an amused look. He noticed that Americans had a huge habit of bragging and then saying, “not to brag”. He just had a similar encounter with the hilarious Anthony Mackie a short while ago as the man bragged about dancing with a famous ballet dancer during his Julliard audition.

“Last year I even got to throw the first pitch at the Texas Rangers game and I nailed it. Everyone was cheering my name. You should’ve seen it. I think we won that day because I got the crowd all riled up. It was all me.”

“You like baseball then?” Tom asked her as he learned something new about his blonde costar. He hadn’t had much interaction with her since that audition all that time ago so he was happy to get to know her a little better.

“I like playing it more than I do watching it but yes. There’s nothing else to do back home so baseball was pretty fun,” Billie told him.

“Why did you quit then?” He asked her curiously and Billie sighed as she rolled her eyes.

“Apparently the coach thought I was too competitive for some reason. I was being too aggressive with the away team and our own team too.” Billie shrugged once more as she lied. That wasn’t the truth at all. Well, it might’ve been a small part of the truth but there was more to it than that.

“I have a habit of trash talking people. The school counselor thought it would be better for me if I didn’t participate in competitive sports which is the reason my mom signed me up for the children’s theater," Billie explained as Tom listened to her intently.

"I couldn’t really trash talk people there. Everyone was way more sensitive than in baseball. There’s no crying in baseball, after all,” Billie then noticed how the _A League of Their Own_ quote went right over his head. The look on his face was evidence enough of that.

Geez, how was she supposed to get along with this guy if he hadn’t seen _A League of Their Own_?

“Trash talking,” Tom stated, clearly amused by this new information. “Trash talking like what?”

Billie just waved her hand dismissively.

“Oh, you know the usual,” Billie said as she described her short career in baseball. “You throw like a fucking two year old, Miller. Hey, Valdez, you’d think with all that time you spend washing your balls, you’d actually be able to hit one every once and a while.”

“How old were you again?” Tom asked her as he stared at the blonde like she was something he had never seen before. He couldn’t believe she was actually serious.

“Eight.” Billie answered with zero hesitance. Tom just nodded to himself as he tried to process this information. He couldn’t really believe a eight year old would say something like that but okay. Maybe things were different in Texas. “What about you? Are you into sports?”

Tom laughed before shaking his head.

“No…I’m more of a fan than anything else. Especially football and I mean _real_ football when I say that,” Tom told her, going out on a limb and teasing her while he said that. Billie looked surprised but she was actually amused that he was teasing her.

“Okay, I see how it is,” Billie said and Megan watched the two teenagers curiously. She hadn’t really seen Billie interact with anyone her own age before. Megan supposed the blonde had friends back home but on set everyone else was significantly older than her. The only person that she seemed to be close with on set was Sebastian and that was only because the both of them were incredibly silent and kept to themselves normally. Not too different from their on-screen counterparts.

“Just don’t say that around Mackie or Evans. They take football way more seriously than I do,” Billie told him, being half serious when she said that but it was actually kind of true. Anthony and Chris were crazy about football.

“Really and how seriously do you take it?” Tom asked her and Billie shrugged.

“Look, I’m more of a fan of college teams. Mackie and Evans are the NFL fans,” Billie told him as he listened to her intently. Tom didn’t really have a clue as to what she was talking about but he just liked hearing her talk. Her accent was so soothing. “Don’t get them started on the Saints or Patriots. You’ll never heard the end of it.”

“And what team are you a fan of?” Tom asked her and Billie looked at him, wondering why he was so suddenly curious about American sports. Maybe it was because he was in the states now and surrounded by Americans. Billie was pretty sure the only brit they had in the cast was Bettany, after all.

“Texas A&M Aggies. College but they’ll always be my favorite,” Billie told him before moving on. “Of course, ask me about baseball teams and I’ll say the Texas Rangers every time. How about you? What soccer team do you like back in England?”

Tom just laughed before answering.

“Well, my favorite football team is Arsenal. I can’t play football myself but I enjoy watching a match every now and then.” Tom told her and Billie just nodded.

She’d ask him more about the sport but Billie didn’t really know anything about soccer just like he probably didn’t know shit about baseball. Billie had a couple of friends back home who played soccer but she just didn’t find the sport that exciting. Maybe it was because there hadn’t been a lot of movies back then that got you real pumped up about soccer. Billie had grown up watching baseball films so, of course, she had become interested in it. Not to mention baseball was some of the fondest memories she had of her father.

Well, before everything went to shit, that is.

“Guys, you’re really boring me with all this sports talk. This is literally the last thing I expected to hear from a couple of actors,” Megan complained and Tom just laughed while Billie smiled.

“Well, excuse us for trying to change things up for once. Did you expect us to discuss our craft or something?” Billie said sarcastically and Tom tried not to laugh even more at the blonde’s sarcasm. She was actually quite funny now that he was getting to know her a little bit. More crude than he had expected but definitely funny. Not that Tom disliked her crudeness but he was just surprised by how blunt she could be.

Billie then turned to look back at the actor.

“How are you liking it around here anyways? I suppose a congratulations is in order…not that any of us were really surprised that you got the part,”

“Thank you and yeah…it’s definitely taking some getting used to,” Tom said as he blushed at her praise. “The trailer has everything. The fridge is filled with everything and more than a person could ever imagine.”

Billie nodded.

“Yeah, well Marvel can sure afford it. They never skimp on anything. That’s something I learned a long time ago,” Billie said as she mentally compared the set of a Marvel movie to every other movie she had ever done. There was a significant difference. Marvel was sure as hell different than any indie film she had ever done. “They literally have a department for everything.”

“I was asked to go to Downey Town,” Tom said, sounding very amazed at the prospect. “I thought it was an actual place here in Atlanta but apparently it’s Robert’s base camp.”

Billie gave him an amused look but mostly because she thought it was cute the way he pronounced “Atlanta”. He kind of said it like “Atlanter”. Billie then became disgusted with herself.

Ew…was she actually calling his accent cute?

Billie didn’t find British accents cute.

Not that she had anything against British people but after all the hell everyone had been giving her about the new kid, she didn’t want to prove them right.

“I know. I went there when we were shooting _Age of Ultron_ ,” Billie told him. “His place is insane. He’s got a garden, personal chef, and everything. The only downside is that the guy is super into sushi and fish eggs.”

Tom gave her a confused look.

“What?” He questioned, not getting what was wrong with that and Billie sighed.

“It’s fine if you’re into that kind of thing but personally I prefer my fish deep fried and unhealthy,” Billie told him and Tom wasn’t sure if she was being serious or not. Maybe she was this time since she looked very serious.

“Are you saying that you’ve never eaten sushi before?” Tom asked her and Billie nodded.

“Nope. Never,” Billie told him and Tom was just mystified at the very idea that someone had never had sushi before.

What kind of life was one without sushi?

“I read a news story the other day where this man thought his intestines had fallen out so he took his “intestines” and piled them up into a bag and drove himself down to the hospital,” Billie said as she told the story which was her way of explaining why she would never eat sushi.

Tom just listened to her as she told the oddest story he had ever heard any actor tell. It was a story that made little sense and probably wasn’t even true. It sounded very exaggerated but Billie looked one hundred percent serious as she told it.

“Turns out it wasn’t his intestines but a sixteen foot long tape worm buried inside him because he ate too much sushi. So…no thank you. I won’t eat sushi.”

Tom stared at the girl like she was some strange creature he had never seen before. He wondered how long she had been storing that story away for because that was oddest story he had ever heard. However, Megan just rolled her eyes at the girl. She really wished that the blonde actress would stop trying to scare this new actor away. He seemed like a nice kid but if Billie kept being weird like that then she was just going to spook him.

“Why would he think his intestines had fallen out? Who would think that they could survive something like that?” Megan asked her. Billie rolled her eyes and groaned.

“I don’t know, Megan. He was probably some redneck from Texarkana,” Billie told her before moving on. “My point is that sushi is gross. Excuse me if I like my food cooked all the way.”

“Well, I’m sure if you tried some sushi from a real sushi place then you would like it,” Tom suggested and Billie really doubted that.

The thought of eating raw fish made her want to puke but she decided that she was going to be on her best behavior and not get into it with her new costar over sushi. Her mom always said that she liked arguing with people too much. Aunt Linda always said she should’ve been a lawyer instead of an actor because of that.

“Looks like I’m finished with you today, Aufderheide,” Megan told Billie and the blonde was just relieved to be finished with hair and make-up. She hated sitting still for so long and she was just ready to go back to finishing shooting that scene with Mackie and Seb.

“Finally,” Billie said as she didn’t waste any time getting up from the seat.

Tom was a bit sad to see her go since he had been enjoying the conversation they were having. She was the only one that had really talked to him since he arrived. He supposed he could’ve tried talking to the others but it was slightly intimidating trying to talk to actors like Scarlett Johansson or Paul Rudd.

Besides…Billie was way closer to his age than all the others.

“It was nice talking to you, Billie,” Tom told her and Billie was taken back by how polite he was. Well, that was weird and she wasn’t sure she liked it. His politeness made her uncomfortable so she just gave him an odd look before mumbling a response.

“Yup.” She said awkwardly as she left the trailer.

Billie didn’t really know what else to say to him.

Tom watched her leave in confusion because he didn’t think that was a response any normal human-being would give. Megan shook her head in amusement as the blonde exited the trailer, the door closing behind her. Megan already knew the girl too well to find her response surprising but Tom on the other hand couldn’t help but be completely stumped by Billie Aufderheide. Just when he felt like he was starting to get to know her, he was left surprised and confused by her personality once again. It wasn’t a bad thing necessarily but it just made Tom want to seek to understand her even more. However, something told Tom that trying to understand Billie required a really complicated skill.

Well, he was willing to try, at least.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie talks to one of the Russo brothers about character choices before she, Sebastian, and Anthony tease each other as they wait to shoot a scene. Anthony invites Billie, Sebastian, and the rest of the cast to a get together at the house he's renting in Atlanta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So not any Tom in this chapter but definitely a lot of Sebastian and Anthony. I tried writing Anthony Mackie as best as I could from all the interviews I've seen him in. He's really funny and I always love watching his interviews when I'm feeling sad. I hope he's just as funny in this chapter. Thanks.

“I’m just trying to understand this thing, Joe,” Billie said as she talked to one of the Russo brothers.

They were standing around on set, waiting for Sebastian and Mackie to get done with their fitting so that they could finish shooting a scene together. Billie and Joe were killing time with conversation but Billie just had a lot of questions where Spider-Man was concerned.

“Why does Emma even want to waste her time with Peter Parker? What’s so special about him…besides being Spider-Man, I mean. She’s the Viper Assassin. Why does she even want anything to do with any guy after all the shit she’s been through?” Joe smiled, looking more than eager to discuss the connection between Emma Rogers and Peter Parker.

“Look, I’m not saying that it’s going to be romantic,” Joe told her and Billie wanted to roll her eyes.

Of course it was going to be romantic.

Emma was a fifteen year old girl and Peter was a fifteen year old boy in a movie together. S

he honestly doubted Marvel would resist the urge to make another comic book romance. She just hoped they weren’t as lame as Thor and Jane or weird like Natasha and Bruce. “The movie is only going to feature the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man’s first meeting. They definitely find each other interesting in this movie and there’s the beginning of an attraction. It’s not love at first sight by any means but there’s definitely a lot of chemistry there.”

“Wait a second. First meeting?” Billie questioned as she gave Joe a suspicious look. “Are you saying that they’re going to be in another movie together? Don’t tell me this means that I have to be in a Spider-Man movie.”

Billie wasn’t sure how she felt about being in a Spider-Man movie. She never liked the Tobey Maguire ones and the only thing she liked about the Andrew Garfield ones was Emma Stone. She didn’t know about being in a Spider-Man movie although Billie knew that she didn’t have a choice in the matter anyways. When she first signed on to do _The Winter Soldier_ , she also signed a contract with Marvel to do nine movies.

They never specified what movies those were so she was obligated to be in whatever movie Marvel asked her to be in.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that,” Joe told her which only frustrated Billie more. She loved Joe and Anthony but those two dorks really got on her nerves sometimes. “But what I’m getting at is that Emma finds Spider-Man fascinating because for her whole life she was experimented on and trained to be the strongest being. She admires strength and power so when she meets Spider-Man at the airport, she’s immediately taken back by how powerful he is. She becomes very curious about him. This is a parallel we’ve been wanting to draw from the comic books.”

“So she’s attracted to how strong he is? This is starting to sound like Tarzan or some shit,” Billie commented and Joe immediately shook his head.

“Not at all. Initially she finds his strength and power curious but once they get to meet each other as Emma Rogers and Peter Parker, there will be other traits of his that she’ll admire and vice versa.”

Joe told her and Billie nodded.

“But they won’t meet as Emma and Peter in this movie?” She inquired and he shook his head.

“No,” He confirmed before something else occurred to Billie.

“So as far as relationships are concerned, what couple in cinematic history would you compare them to? You’ve got a goody two shoes and a cold hearted bitch. It’s not exactly common,” Billie said and Joe just smirked at her.

“Think Princess Leia and Han Solo,” He told her and Billie frowned.

“You’re saying that Emma’s Princess Leia?” Billie asked, somewhat disappointed, but Joe surprised her by what he said next.

“No, I’m saying that Emma’s Han Solo,” He told her and Billie’s eyes widened in surprise, not expecting him to give her that kind of response. Emma as Han Solo and Peter as Princess Leia? That was certainly interesting.

There was no doubt in Billie’s mind about that.

“Oh. Well, I guess I can get behind that,” Billie said casually although she really loved the idea of Emma being Han Solo in the complex future relationship that the former assassin and webslinger were going to have.

Han Solo was everyone’s favorite character in the Star Wars universe…well, at least in Billie’s opinion. However, before Joe could respond to her statement, Sebastian and Anthony came strolling up. Billie rolled her eyes as she spotted Anthony yapping away as he made Sebastian laugh. That guy was the most distracting person she had ever met. No one ever got any work done with Anthony Mackie around.

“It’s about damn time you two showed up,” Billie said as she narrowed her eyes at the both of them. Mackie just grinned at her while Sebastian gave her an amused smile.

“You’re right. It is about damn time,” Mackie told her and Billie tried not to let that smug look on his face bother her. “Now the fun can finally start.”

“Or maybe we can just shoot the scene,” Joe suggested quietly and Mackie just smirked at him.

“Who said there can’t be any fun in acting?” The actor said smugly and the tired director just sighed heavily, trying not to let himself go insane over the many infuriating actors on set.

“I’m going to go discuss something with my brother and Kevin,” Joe said as he began to excuse himself from the three actors. “Try not to screw anything up while I’m gone.”

“I’m hurt, Joe. I really am,” Mackie said, pretending to be offended but the director just rolled his eyes before he walked off to go find his brother. Billie was left alone with the two older actors who immediately turned to look at her.

“How’s our resident cowgirl doing?” Mackie asked teasingly and Billie rolled her eyes. She might’ve been from bumfuck nowhere in Texas but Billie was most certainly not a cowgirl. She didn’t grow up on a ranch and she had only ridden a horse once in her whole life. Billie considered herself to be more like trailer park trash than cowgirl.

“Well, I’d be better if you could manage to actually show up to set on time,” Billie said in a bitchy tone and Sebastian scoffed.

“Bills, I’ve lost track of the amount of times you’ve shown up late. The only difference between you and Mackie is that you turn that cute little Texan accent up a notch to get you out of trouble,” Sebastian pointed out and Mackie nodded his head in agreement.

“Cute little blonde white girls with Texan accents seem to do the trick,” Mackie said as he smirked once more. “However, a thirty something black guy with a Louisiana accent is a whole other story. Trust me on that one.”

“You two are both idiots,” Billie told them and the older actors only smiled in amusement at her before changing the subject. The expression on Sebastian’s face grew more serious as he recalled something he forgot to ask her last time they talked. Although he didn’t think she gave him much of a chance to speak when she threw him out of her trailer.

“I forgot to ask you last time…did you ever get a call back about that Shyamalan movie?” Sebastian asked her, inquiring about the M. Knight Shyamalan movie that Billie had auditioned for not that long ago. Billie shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant about the whole thing but deep down she was really holding out for that lead role in Shyamalan’s upcoming film. She had grown up with movies like _The Sixth Sense_ and _Signs_ so it would be beyond amazing if she could work with Shyamalan.

“Not yet. I’m hoping I’ll hear something soon but I’m still waiting.” Billie told them and Anthony just gave her an odd look.

“I don’t even know why you want to be in a Shyamalan movie. They haven’t been that great lately. Have you even seen _The Happening_?” Anthony said to her and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Not all his movies are winners but those first ones in his career were great and I read part of the script of this new one. I think he’s really making a comeback, guys. A big one,” Billie told them, recalling how much she had fallen in love with the story when she auditioned for the upcoming movie. She loved the characters and how complex they were. Billie was one hundred percent positive M. Knight Shyamalan was making a huge comeback.

There was no doubt in her mind.

“If you say so, Billie,” Anthony said, not sounding entirely convinced but Billie didn’t care what he thought.

This was her career and this was a film she really wanted to do. Anthony was just going to look like an idiot when this movie came out someday and he realized that he had underestimated the genius that was M. Knight Shyamalan. The older actor then smirked at Billie when he decided to take this conversation in a more interesting direction.

“Anyways…have you talked to your boyfriend lately? Seb was just telling me about you and him,” Billie glared at her two friends.

“Stop calling him that! I barely know the kid,” Billie grumbled which only amused the two men even more. Anthony practically cackled as he looked at the unamused look on her face.

“Can you imagine how hilarious that would be? The redneck and the little English boy? It sounds like a fairytale,” Anthony teased and Billie smacked him on the arm but the man only laughed more. Sebastian also snickered at the pissed look on Billie’s face.

“I’m not a fucking redneck, asshole,” Billie spat as she tried not to let Seb and Mackie push her too far. As much as she loved those two, they sure knew how to piss her off.

“I don’t know why everyone’s decided that there’s something going on just because there’s someone within the same age range as me on set. Well, here’s some news for all y’all…”

Billie briefly paused as she looked between Sebastian and Anthony. Both men knew that they had really pissed the actress off this time. She only used the term “all y’all” when she was angry or worked up.

“I've met boys who happen to be the same age as me in the past. There’s nothing funny or unique about it. In fact, I’ve been on quite a few dates with some of those boys,” Billie told them as she tried to make it clear to them that just because there was a guy on set that was her age, it didn’t mean that they were a match made in heaven. Billie never thought that about Sebastian and Lizzie or Chris and Emily.

“So stop making this into something it isn’t. In case you idiots don’t know, this is a job. You don’t mix your personal life with your professional one.”

“Sometimes I really think you’re the reincarnation of some old man,” Sebastian stated as he stared at the blonde girl. “What teenage girl thinks like that? You sound like a sociopath.”

“Well, excuse me for wanting to remain professional in my place of work,” Billie told them both and Anthony just loved teasing her because she got so worked up.

“Come on, Bills, just calm down. We’re messing with you,” Anthony told her as he smirked at the annoyed looking actress. “We both know Billy Elliot isn’t your type. What are you going to do? Sit around and drink tea all day with him?”

“The only tea I like is nice and cold. None of that lukewarm shit,” Billie said stubbornly and both men chuckled.

“Can you actually imagine the two of you together?” Anthony said as he attempted to picture it. “Ello, Billie! Can you get me some tea and crumpets, love? God save the Queen.”

Billie actually managed to laugh at Anthony’s terrible British accent. He sounded even worse than Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins.

“Mummy, I need to use the loo. Please, mummy. Won’t you let me use the loo?” Billie said as she did her own even worse British accent.It was like a high pitch massacre of the British accent.

If there was one thing Billie wasn’t a master at, it was accents. The only accent she could do really well was the general American sounding one as well as the Tennessee accent which Billie always had a lot of fun with. Other than that, it usually took a lot of work from dialect coaches to get her speaking with a British accent. Billie had only had a British accent once in one of the movies she did but she didn’t remember how to speak with the British accent anymore. That time during filming was like a blank space in her mind.

Anthony laughed but Sebastian just shook his head in disbelief. A horrified and disgruntled looking Paul Bettany, who was currently out of his Vision make-up, stared at them from across set. Anthony just grinned at the British man.

“Like my British accent, Paul?!” Anthony called out to him, not looking the slightest bit embarrassed to have been caught. Billie wasn’t either. Sebastian seemed embarrassed enough for the both of them. “I call it Black Cockney.”

“Yeah and I call mine East Texan posh,” Billie told him and Paul just rolled his eyes at the two ridiculous individuals.

“You two are the most annoying people I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. Never do that again,” Paul told them and Anthony just continued to smirk at him.

“Don’t be like that, mate,” Anthony said in his terrible British accent again and Paul just gave him a disgusted look before leaving. Billie watched the man leave in amusement. It seemed like they were always pissing the British actor off in some way. Paul once told her that she was perhaps the most American person he had ever met. Elizabeth told her that he was insulting her but Billie liked to pretend that he was actually complimenting her.

“Have you talked to the new guy?” Anthony then asked as he changed the subject and Sebastian also looked at her curiously. “I talked to him a little earlier but the kid seemed real jumpy.”

“We talked for about fifteen minutes in the make-up trailer,” Billie told them. “He seemed okay to me.”

“What did you talk about?” Sebastian asked her and Billie shrugged.

“Just sports mostly,” Billie told them and Sebastian rolled his eyes.

“Really? Sports? You couldn’t find anything else to talk about?” Sebastian asked her and Anthony just looked mystified.

“You’re telling me Billy Elliot plays a sport?” Anthony asked her and Billie sighed.

“Well, no but he said that he was a fan of soccer. He said he liked Arsenal…whatever that is. I know shit about soccer but I doubt he knew anything about what I was talking about either,” Billie told them and she knew the guys weren’t going to be any help either. Anthony was mainly a fan of football while Sebastian didn’t care much for sports at all. Sebastian scoffed at her remark.

“Don’t tell me you started bragging about your baseball career again,” Sebastian said and Billie glared at him. “You played little league.”

“Excuse me, dickhead, but little league is still a huge deal,” Billie told him as Sebastian was forced to listen to the same thing Billie repeatedly told him in the past. “ESPN has the little league world series televised every year so don’t tell me it’s not a big deal. Besides…I was an amazing baseball player. You should’ve seen the way I threw the ball. I could-“

Sebastian interrupted Billie before she could even finish.

“Yes, we all know, Billie. You had a 65 mph pitch. Congrats,” Sebastian said because Billie had mentioned the same thing many times before.

It was strange to Sebastian that she was so arrogant about her talent in baseball, a sport she hadn’t played in many years, but she was never the same way about acting. Sebastian didn’t think he heard the girl be arrogant even once about acting and she was a phenomenal actress. The same thing couldn’t be said about baseball because Billie bragged about her very short career in baseball the same way Anthony bragged about his short career in football.

It must be a sport thing, Sebastian determined.

“You can mock all you want, Sea Bass, but this girl has one hell of an arm,” Anthony said as he threw an arm across Billie’s shoulders casually. “When we were filming Age of Ultron we played a couple games and no one could hit the ball with the speed this girl was throwing it at. Renner miserably failed.”

“He was so pissed. It was hilarious,” Billie said as she recalled the event with a smile on her face. Anthony looked down and smiled at the blonde.

“You should’ve stuck with it, Bills. You could’ve gone pro,” Anthony told her and Billie shrugged.

“What and give up hanging out with you, Mackie? No way in hell,” Billie said sarcastically but a part of her wondered what life would’ve been like if she hadn’t quit baseball. She probably never would’ve continued her acting career.

That was for sure.

But was Anthony right?

Could she have gone pro?

Billie honestly doubted it. There was a small chance, as a girl, that she would’ve been good enough to play on a high school team and an even smaller chance that she would’ve been able to play baseball in college. However, there was probably a miniscule chance that she could’ve gone pro. There had never been a woman in the major baseball league before. Billie had heard about other up and coming little league baseball female baseball players who were even better than she had been yet they couldn’t make it into the MLB.

But that wasn’t why Billie had quit baseball.

Billie had loved baseball so much that she would’ve kept playing it even if she never made it big. It was just that some things changed. It suddenly hurt too much to play baseball and Billie wasn’t talking physically either. When she picked up a glove again last year, for a game on set, it had been the first time in years that she had played the game and almost hurt just like it used to.

Baseball just brought up too many memories for her.

Unpleasant memories.

“You two are a couple of jocks, you know that? I doubt that kid cares that you played baseball or if Mackie played football,” Sebastian told them but Billie and Anthony just smirked at him.

Sebastian really hated it when those two got together and conspired. Those two were worse together. He wondered if it was a southern thing. Did southerners stick together like that? Sebastian really hoped not because Mackie and Billie had the two most distinct personalities on set.

“Well, if he was cool then he would care,” Anthony replied and Billie just shrugged. The older man then looked down at the blonde as something else came to mind. Something that concerned both the likes of Billie but also that British kid. “How are you feeling about him by the way?”

Billie gave him a confused look.

“What do you mean?” Billie asked him and Anthony shrugged nonchalantly although he had a smug look on his face.

“You’ll probably have to have intense makeout scenes with that guy. It’ll be better if you at least like him a little bit,” Anthony pointed out and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Joe actually said there won’t be any sort of romantic scenes in this movie so it looks like I won’t have to worry about that,” Billie told him, not appearing to be too worried.

“Come on, Bills, they’re probably going to throw together some romance in future movies. It’s inevitable,” Sebastian said, giving his input. Billie glared at the two actors before finally answering them.

“First off, Spider-Man really got around in the comic books so it’s likely they’ll cast someone as one of the hundred girls he slept with to be the love interest because Emma’s way too cool to be a love interest,” Billie told them seriously while the two actors just watched her in amusement. They just liked to get her all riled up.

“Second, even if it did happen then it wouldn’t matter. I’ve kissed guys for movies before. It’s no big deal. It’s just a job.”

“Way to make it sound romantic, Bills,” Sebastian said sarcastically and Billie just scoffed.

“There’s nothing romantic about it,” Billie said stubbornly. “If they want to make Emma into some lovesick loser then fine. That’s their decision. Tell me which idiot I have to kiss and then pay up.”

Sebastian just stared in disbelief at the teenage girl while Anthony laughed his head off.

Billie never ceased to amaze him.

He wondered what was going through her head most of the time. Still…Billie was probably his favorite person on set. She was the most real and straight forward person he had met in Hollywood and especially one that was a child actor. Although Anthony thought she took the Hollywood game a lot less seriously than most people. Maybe it was because she wasn’t from Los Angeles or New York like a lot of other child actors were.

That probably had something to do with it.

“Anyways…I was thinking that maybe we should all get together for dinner tomorrow night,” Anthony said as he changed the subject to something more light hearted. The annoyed look on Billie’s face vanished and it was replaced with a more curious look. Sebastian already knew about what Anthony was proposing so he remained silent. “I’m hosting a little get together at the house my wife and I are renting just outside the city. I’ve invited everyone and maybe you should come too.”

“A get together?” Billie questioned incredulously and Anthony nodded.

“I know you feel left out of a lot of things with being underage and all. You can’t exactly go partying with us all night,” Anthony said and Sebastian scoffed. “I just thought it would be nice to have a more kid friendly get together. That way everyone can bring their families and it’ll be fun.”

“Not that she would want to go out with us at night anyways,” Sebastian mumbled and Anthony rolled his eyes.

“Just because you’re a little hermit doesn’t mean Billie has to be one too,” Anthony told him and Billie wanted to roll her eyes again because those two could really bicker when they wanted to.

“I’m just saying that she’s probably better off reading her books like she always does. I doubt she needs to see Evans get shit faced,” Sebastian told him and Billie shrugged nonchalantly.

“Yeah, I’ve already seen enough of that from my dad when he was still around. The fact that Evans can’t hold his liquor doesn’t really surprise me," Billie said before continuing.

“Besides…I don’t need you hosting a family friendly get together just because I’m the youngest one on set. It’s already embarrassing enough.”

And it was true.

Although Billie doubted she would really go out to nightclubs with the other cast members, she still felt a tiny bit left out whenever Chris and Anthony chatted about what a fun night they had. Everyone also had their own little inside jokes from these nights out and Billie didn’t exactly feel included. It wasn’t their fault or anything but Billie just always felt awkward about being the youngest one. It was like that on _Mad Men_ too.

Sebastian tried to make her feel better about the whole thing by staying in with her and her mom but she suspected it was more because he was kind of a shut-in like her. That and he liked flirting with her mom for some disgusting reason. Luckily, her mom was back home in Texas so Sebastian wouldn’t get the chance. Billie thought that she could puke just from thinking about Sebastian ogling her mom.

“You’re not the only youngest one now. There’s Billy Elliot too. He’s like what? Nineteen?” Anthony said as he tried to appease her. “He’ll be staying behind a lot too. At least here in Atlanta so there’s no need to worry. I thought maybe this little cook out I’m having would be a nice way for y’all to get to know each other. Maybe you won’t hate the kid after getting to know him a bit.”

Billie rolled her eyes.

“I never said I hated him. I just don’t know him,” Billie said because she really didn’t hate Tom. She just didn’t know him and she was always awkward around new people. It took her a while to get used to new people but he seemed nice enough.

“Well, get to know him then,” Anthony told her. “The get together starts at six tomorrow night. You know where the house is so come on down.”

“Sure,” Billie said, knowing that if she didn’t agree to go to this weird get together thing then Anthony would never let her hear the end of it.

“Bring your potato salad too. You make the best potato salad in the world. I don’t know what your secret is,” Anthony told her and Billie gave him an odd look but laughed nonetheless. “In fact, just bring it for me and no one else. Don’t tell anyone else you’re bringing it.”

“You’re so weird, Mackie,” Billie told him as she continued to smile at the hilarious actor. It was then that Sebastian spoke for the first time in a while as he looked at her somewhat shyly. He cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking.

“So um…do you know if your mom might come to this thing tomorrow night?” Sebastian asked Billie quietly and both Anthony and Billie fell silent as they stared at him incredulously. Billie just gave him an odd look before she reluctantly answered him.

“Probably not. She’s really busy with the clinic back home,” Billie told him, not knowing why he was asking her such a random question. Well, she actually did know why but she’d really like to not think about it.

“Oh…okay,” Sebastian said, sounding a little bit disappointed by her answer. Billie just awkwardly looked at the ground as she tried to forget the random question he asked about her mom. The only person, however, that didn’t seem awkward about the whole thing was Anthony as the older man busted out laughing. Billie had an uncomfortable look on her face while Sebastian just glared at him.

“Ha! Seb’s thirsty for Billie’s mom!” Anthony said loudly and both Billie and Sebastian blushed. Billie was mostly just embarrassed because she thought someone might’ve heard Anthony. “You can’t blame the guy, Bills. You’ve got a hot mom.”

“Shut the fuck up, you moron. Someone might hear you,” Billie snapped as she glared at the man and Sebastian just looked incredibly awkward at having been called out on his interest in Billie’s mom.

“Sarah and I are just friends,” Sebastian muttered quietly and Billie looked back at him with a disgusted look on her face.

“Ew! Don’t call my mom Sarah. That’s disgusting,” Billie told him as she furiously shook her head. “And you also can’t be friends with my mom.”

“Why not?” Sebastian questioned and Billie looked at him as if it were obvious.

“Because we’re friends. You can’t be friends with both me _and_ my mom. I don’t want you snitching on me to her,” Billie told him but Sebastian didn’t look bothered.

“But you never do anything worth snitching on anyways,” Sebastian pointed out and Billie groaned in frustration.

“You just can’t be friends with my mom, Seb. Okay? It’s weird,” Billie told him and it honestly was weird.

Her mom and Sebastian had weirdly hit it off from the start which wasn’t odd considering that they were the same age but Billie honestly felt a little jealous. Not because she was into Sebastian or anything because that would be gross as much as she joked about marrying him someday. No, it was because hanging out with Sebastian was almost like having a dad again. She’d probably never tell him that because he’d think it was weird but Billie had to admit that she was a little possessive over Sebastian. He was probably the only costar she saw regularly even when they were off set.

Sebastian was all the things she wished her real dad could’ve been but never was. However, Billie tried not to get sentimental like that because she knew she was only opening herself up to rejection again which was why she never told Sebastian how she truly felt. Everything was fine just the way it was.

“You’re just freaked out because Seb has the hots for your mama,” Anthony told her and Sebastian glared at his friend.

“I do not,” Sebastian denied but Anthony knew better than that. Hell, even Billie knew better than that although she would never admit it aloud. “Just forget it. I was just inquiring whether or not Billie’s mom was going be there because she’s a lot better company than you, Mackie.”

“Oh, I bet she is,” Anthony said as he grinned at him knowingly. “You’d just love to take Billie’s mom home and make love to her all night long, wouldn’t you?”

Billie and Sebastian both gave the actor disgusted looks. Billie couldn’t believe he really went that far this time.

“Okay, just for that I’m going to make the potato salad but you’re not getting any. Sebastian can have it all and we all know he’ll eat every last piece of it because he eats everything,” Billie said before turning to her other friend. “Come on, Seb, let’s see if the Russos are ready to shoot that scene yet. I’m tired of listening to this guy’s loud mouth.”

“I think you’re right, Bills,” Sebastian said as he gave his other friend a rather pointed look. Billie and Sebastian then proceeded to walk away from Anthony who was still laughing at the both of them.

“You and your future daddy probably want to have a daddy/daughter day out. I get it,” Anthony teased and both Sebastian and Billie flipped the man off in unison.

He just cackled in that way he always did when he had succeeded in pissing them off.

Billie just hoped to god that he didn’t start bringing up the Sebastian and her mom thing at the get together tomorrow night. That would be embarrassing and not to mention it would give something for Evans and Downey to tease her about. Billie didn’t know if she was exactly looking forward to the get together tomorrow night but she knew that she would go anyways. If she didn’t then it would somehow get back to her mom and then her mom would nag her about getting out more and talking to people. Billie would just have to go along with it. Hopefully everyone would be so busy that she could leave without anyone noticing.

Billie could only hope.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie attends Anthony's dinner party where she and Sebastian try to keep to themselves before Chris Evans intervenes and forces her to be friendly with the newbie on set. She gets to know Tom better while the British actor still find himself fascinated by Billie as he discovers that he learns something new about her every time he sees her.

Lindale, Texas

2005

“Throw it to me, Billie. Right over here.” Billie’s father said to the seven year old as they stood in the backyard of their small house. 

It was just after dinner so the temperature had cooled down enough for them to practice throwing the ball. Billie was starting to get better and better at baseball as it would turn out which made her father proud of her. Her father was a talented baseball player himself. He was the pitcher for a local minor league baseball team which was something Billie always bragged about to all her friends at school. Your daddy’s a cattle rancher? Yeah, well, my daddy’s an actual baseball player. In Billie’s eyes her father was the best baseball player in the world.

“That was a great pitch, Billie! Try it again.” Her father told her as he caught the ball she threw before throwing it back to her. Billie caught it with ease, admiring how great her father was at pitching the ball himself. If only Billie could be that good some day. 

Billie had only just gotten a place on the boy’s baseball team after her mother had to practically threaten the coach to let her play. The coach first suggested that Billie should play on the girl’s softball team but Billie didn’t want to play softball. Softball was too easy and not to mention her father was a baseball player. Not a softball player and Billie wanted to be just like her dad. Besides…Billie just wanted to prove to those stupid boys that she could play baseball even better than they could. This was why she and her father spent countless hours after dinner practicing her pitch. 

“Daddy, I wish we could do this all day and all night!” Billie called out to her father as she threw the ball again. Her father gave her a quizzical look.

“Do what, Darlin’?” He questioned and Billie shrugged.

“Play baseball.” Billie told him although she really meant that she wished she could always spend time with him. 

When he was home, he was there at the house all the time but when he was touring around the country with his baseball team he was always gone. Sometimes he would call home but it was rare that she heard from him when he was traveling around the country playing baseball. She missed him when he was gone. Her father was the only one she knew who could sing George Strait and not to mention he was the only one who really knew his stuff about baseball. Billie idolized him.

“Well, we’re playing baseball now, aren’t we?” He said as he threw the ball back to her and she caught it again.

“I know but I want to do this all the time. I want you to be here all the time too.” Billie told him and Ethan just chuckled at his daughter. 

He took a good look at his seven year old daughter and he realized what a tomboy she was. Billie’s usual outfit consisted of a pair of beat up jeans, a loose t-shirt, a pair of worn out sneakers, and Ethan’s old Texas Rangers baseball cap on her head. It was rare that Billie ever wore the frilly dresses that the other girls in town wore. Her mother always made her wear dresses to church on Sunday but Billie always managed to get the dresses dirty. Ethan lost count of the amount of dresses Billie ruined. 

“Well, I’m here now.” Ethan told her as he smiled at her. Billie threw the ball back to him once again with her old hand-me down baseball glove in hand. Billie gave him a toothy smile.

“Let’s play baseball forever, daddy!” Billie exclaimed and the older man chuckled as he watched his ridiculously adorable daughter jump up and down with joy as she caught the ball yet again. Billie sure had a knack for baseball. There was no doubt in his mind about that.

 

 

Present Day

Billie hadn’t really wanted to go to Anthony’s get together but she knew she had no other choice. She didn’t want the rest of the cast to think she was a snob or anything. It was just that she was always awkward about these kinds of things. At least Seb would be there, Billie told herself. Sebastian was always good company when she was feeling terribly anti-social. Maybe it was because he was kind of that way too.

She had taken an Uber to Mackie’s house and had actually arrived a little early. She knocked softly on the front door and waited for either Anthony or his wife to come to the door. Billie was kind of hoping that it would be his wife who came to the door but she was never that lucky. Mackie opened the door with a big annoying grin on his face.

“Sally Draper!” He said happily and Billie forced herself not to glare at him. It was rude to be mean to someone in their own house. Her mom had taught her better than that.

“Hey, Mackie.” Billie said quickly and Anthony’s grin widened when he saw the dish she had brought with her.

“So you did make the potato salad. I’ve been looking forward to this all day.” Anthony said as he eagerly took the dish from her hands.

“Well, the small kitchen in my suite isn’t fully equipped but it was enough to make the potato salad.” Billie told him and Anthony looked back up at her curiously.

“How do you even make it? I normally can’t stand potato salad but the way you make it makes it taste like the best thing on Earth.” Anthony told her and Billie just shrugged.

“My mom used to work at a steakhouse and she learned to make it there. Then she taught me how to make it too. It’s probably the only thing she can actually make.” Billie explained and Anthony just nodded.

“Great. Well, why don’t you come inside? Seb just got here and Grillo’s already drinking all the booze so at least I don’t have to worry about you sneaking any out.” Anthony told her and Billie just rolled her eyes as he let her inside his rented house.

“Yeah, right.” Billie mumbled as she followed Anthony through the house.

It was a nice house and Billie slightly wondered why she just didn’t consider renting an apartment in Atlanta since she seemed to spend so much time there anyways. Mackie had the right idea as it would seem. Maybe it was because it would require too much paperwork since Billie was technically still a minor. Maybe she would give the idea some more thought once she turned eighteen.

Atlanta wasn’t so bad, after all. It was a lot better than Los Angeles or New York in her opinion. Although Billie doubted she would actually go through with living in Atlanta. It was still too far away from her mother. She was more likely to live in San Antonio than Atlanta.

Anthony finally led her to the backyard of the nice and expensive looking house. Being the party animal he was, Anthony seemed to have everything set up in the large backyard. He had a grill out there where he was probably going to start grilling hot dogs and hamburger patties. It was summer, after all, and perfect weather for grilling. He also had a mini bar set up outside and Billie could already see Frank Grillo sitting there as he drank all the booze Anthony probably had. What a surprise, Billie thought sarcastically to herself.

There didn’t seem to be too many people here yet and Billie wasn’t sure if everyone would show up. Billie spotted Elizabeth and Paul, the British one, chatting on one side of Anthony’s yard while Jeremy Renner was on the opposite side talking to Paul, the American one, and his wife. Billie stopped looking around the yard when she spotted Sebastian awkwardly sitting by himself in one of the chairs on the patio. Billie smiled because he was as awkward as she was. She loved that about him.

“Ready to ditch this party yet?” Billie said as she took the seat next to him. Sebastian looked up in surprise, noticing Billie for the first time. His surprised look then faded into a knowing look as he smiled at her. He slowly took a sip of his beer before responding to her.

“You and I both know that Mackie will kill us. My estimate is that we’ve got to stay for at least two hours before we can sneak out.” Sebastian told her and Billie groaned.

“But that’s two hours of having to engage in pointless conversation with people.” Billie complained and Sebastian just smirked.

“Hey, you and me both, kid. But we’re going to have to be sociable whether we like it or not.” Sebastian told her and Billie just pouted.

“This is going to be the longest two hours of my life.” Billie whined and Sebastian just laughed.

“Well, we’re in this together. Just put up with everyone for two hours and then we can leave.” Sebastian said, trying to make her feel better about the situation. “Maybe afterwards we can catch that movie you wanted to see. It’ll still be kind of early by the time we get out of here.” Billie’s spirits lifted when he told her that.

“Really? Mad Max?” Billie asked because she had really wanted to go see the new Mad Max movie but she hadn’t had a lot of time on her hands lately. Billie wasn’t hugely into the original Mad Max movies but she was a big Charlize Theron fan. Sebastian just smiled as he nodded at her.

“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to see it too. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.” Sebastian told her and Billie was just happy that she was going to see Mad Max after having to put up with two hours of awkward conversation. This wasn’t weird or anything. Usually when Billie’s mom was here, all three of them would hang out together if they had time on their hands. Since her mother had decided that she was old enough to spend a summer by herself on a movie set, she had trusted Sebastian to look out for her as well as Chris and Anthony.

Most girls her age didn’t like hanging out with adults but Billie liked hanging out with Sebastian. Sometimes she pretended that he was her dad and not the deadbeat one she had in real life. A real dad who took her to see movies and who warned her about which boys to stay away from. A dad who also gave her the best advice and actually cared about her.

“At least I have something to look forward to.” Billie muttered and Sebastian smiled.

“Great. Have a beer while you’re at it.” Sebastian told her and Billie rolled her eyes at him.

“Yeah. No thanks.” Billie said, sounding disgusted by the very suggestion of beer. Sebastian smiled in satisfaction.

“That’s the right answer.” He told her and Billie smirked at him.

“I’m more of a whiskey and coke girl myself.” Billie told him smugly and the smile fell off Sebastian’s face. He didn’t seem amused by that. “What? Are you going to tattle on me?”

“You shouldn’t even know what whiskey and coke tastes like at your age. You’re seventeen.” Sebastian told her and it was obvious to Billie that Sebastian had never been to a Texan pre-game tailgate party. It’s not like Billie went to parties all the time. Only a couple here and there.

Mostly Billie tried not going to parties but she happened to find Tyler, the linebacker on the football team, incredibly attractive and the tailgate parties were his thing so she showed up to talk to him. He wasn’t like most jocks who tended to be on the stupid side. She wasn’t saying that he read Ernest Hemingway and listened to the Doors, which was Billie’s dream guy, but he wasn’t a complete idiot either like you’d expect from a football player. 

“God, you sound so old and lame when you talk like that.” Billie told him and Sebastian gave her a look of disbelief.

“I am not old! I’m only thirty three.” Sebastian told her and Billie gave him a knowing look.

“Yeah…I know.” Billie retorted and Sebastian just playfully glared at her before growing serious once more.

“Look, just be careful when you do that stuff, okay? I know you’re a teenager and teenagers do stupid things and never listen to adults but be careful.” Sebastian said as he lectured her like how Billie assumed a real father would lecture her. “Just don’t let anyone take any pictures of you and especially make sure no one puts anything in your drinks. I’ve been to enough of those high school parties to know that there’s a lot of creeps that hang out there. Please don’t do any drugs either. You don’t want to end up like Miley Cyrus or Lindsey Lohan, do you?”

“I know, Seb. I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.” Billie said as she tried to reassure him. “I don’t do drugs and I don’t plan on doing them either. A child actor drug addict is so cliché.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Sebastian told her as he smiled at her in relief and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Thanks, Dad.” Billie said sarcastically even though sometimes she did like to think of the older actor as a father of sorts. Sebastian just shook his head at the teenage actress but before he could reply, Chris came over to them. Billie fought the urge to sulk. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Chris but sometimes he was a little too upbeat for her liking. He was always trying to get her involved and make her feel included. Maybe Chris was just too nice.

“Are you two being anti-social again?” Chris asked them jokingly as he smiled down at the both of them. Billie scoffed.

“How are we being anti-social? We’re talking to each other, aren’t we?” Billie retorted and Chris gave her a knowing look.

“It doesn’t count when two little hermits talk to each other and no one else. It’s still being anti-social…you’re just being anti-social together.” Chris told them pointedly and Billie rolled her eyes yet again.

“Sorry, grandpa. We’ll try to be more sociable.” Billie said sarcastically and Chris sighed because working with a teenager, especially one like Billie, was proving to be more difficult than he thought. And his mom was apparently always on his case about having kids? Yeah, right. Billie was difficult enough and she wasn’t even his kid. Were all teenagers that moody? Chris didn’t remember being that moody. Maybe it wasn’t even a teenage thing.

Maybe it was just a Billie thing.

“You know you don’t have to call me that all the time. I’m not really your grandfather in real life.” Chris told the blonde and Billie shrugged.

“Sorry. I’m just method.” Billie said even more sarcastically than before. Both Sebastian and Chris knew that was as far from the truth as they could get. Billie was probably the opposite of a method actor. She made fun of method actors. “I’ve gotta work on my craft and all. You know how it is.”

“Yeah, sure.” Chris said, still sounding weirded out by her sarcastic statement. “Look, I just came over to tell you that Robert’s here and he wants to ask you something.” Billie glanced over and much to her displeasure, she noticed that Downey was standing next to Renner. She made a face of disdain.

“Oh god. Is there a room I can hide in until he leaves?” Billie said, looking like she really wanted to leave. “If he tries to talk to me about that herbal tonic hippie shit he puts in his body then I swear I’m going to throw myself off a cliff. He’s so Hollywood.”

“Be nice, Billie.” Chris told her scoldingly and Billie was starting to think he really was like a grandpa. Billie even though he was worse than her grandpa in real life who rarely laughed and rarely smiled. Grandpa Aufderheide was a party. That was for sure but her grandpa never forced her to be pleasant to people like Chris was. Chris played her grandpa in the MCU but he was starting to act like a grandpa in real life too. “I should mention your little friend is here too.”

“Friend? What friend?” Billie questioned in confusion and Chris smirked at her.

“You know…your little British friend.” Chris told her and Billie sulked.

“He’s not my friend. I don’t even know him.” Billie muttered and Chris gave her a pointed look.

“What did I tell you about being nice?” Chris said sternly and she really wanted to slap the smug look off his face. Why did her mom leave her in this idiot’s care for the entire summer? “You should talk to him. You need more friends around here that are your age. You don’t want to hang out with a bunch of old people like us.”

“I don’t want to hang out with annoying old people like you and Downey but I’m perfectly fine with old people like Seb and Mackie.” Billie retorted and Chris wondered if it was ever possible for her not to have some sarcastic comeback for everything. However, he pushed his annoyance aside and did his best to try to get her to agree to be more friendly while Sebastian just tried not to let it get to him that Billie had once again called him old. He was not old. Thirty three was not old.

“Just be nice to the kid. He’s probably feeling nervous enough about everything. He doesn’t need you scaring him too.” Chris told her seriously. “Just go over there and talk to him. Make him feel more comfortable.”

“Fine. Whatever. I’ll go talk to him.” Billie said, finally giving in to Chris. “God, when can you have a baby so you can finally get off my back?” Chris and Sebastian looked at her incredulously. A baby?

“You two are a couple of old spinsters, you know that?” Billie told them before she got up from her seat to go do what Chris said. She grabbed a couple of Mexican cokes from the cooler before she went in search of the British kid Chris was so insistent on her talking to. Billie stormed off and both Chris and Sebastian just hoped that she didn’t scare the kid off. They weren’t going to lie…sometimes they were a little scared of Billie too.

Not that they would ever admit that aloud.

 

 

Billie found Tom standing a short distance away as he awkwardly stood there, eyes glued to his phone, but Billie knew that he wasn’t actually paying attention to anything on his phone. He kept glancing up every once and a while to see what everyone was up to. Emma knew that move…the pretend to be occupied with your phone move. It’s how she ignored annoying people like Downey and Chris.

“Hey, Holland.” Billie said, announcing her presence. He looked up from his phone, a relieved and happy smile forming on his face. Billie didn’t know why he looked so happy to see her. It’s not like they were long lost best friends or anything. “I got you this coke. I don’t know if you like them or not. If you don’t then too bad.”

Tom stared at the strange blonde girl as she held out the bottle of Coca-Cola to him and he once again was left mystified by another odd statement the actress made. A part of Tom wondered if all American girls were this strange. Maybe just the ones from Texas. Tom wouldn’t know. He had never been to Texas before. He tried to figure out whether or not she was being serious. For a small second he thought that maybe she was being serious but then he saw the smile on her face and realized that she was just joking around. He hesitantly took the glass bottle from her hand, noticing she had one for herself too.

“Thank you, Billie.” Tom said, smiling in thanks. He popped open the bottle of Coca-Cola and Billie looked at him curiously.

“Why are you standing here alone?” Billie asked him bluntly and Tom looked at her in surprise. He couldn’t really believe anyone could be that unabashedly blunt. He swallowed hard before laughing nervously.

“I uh…don’t know what you mean.” Tom said as he blushed, trying to act like he didn’t know what she was talking about. Billie took a sip from her bottle of coke before responding, never glancing away from Tom. The nineteen year old boy couldn’t tell if he was creeped out or attracted to her. 

“You just seem like someone who can’t shut up. I just find it odd that you’re standing alone over here looking miserable and pathetic.” Billie said and at this rate Tom was just shocked that she could say things like that but not make them sound like insults. How was that even possible?

“Well, that’s an odd way of putting it but I guess I’m just…” Tom said as he trailed off, not sure how to find the right words.

“You just?” Billie inquired and Tom looked back at her.

“I guess I’m just intimidated. I mean, look at all the actors here. I grew up watching them all and now I’m suddenly here with them.” Tom tried to explain but he was still struggling to find the right words. “I don’t even know what to say to them.”

“Yeah, but you’re familiar with famous people. You worked with Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor…or does no one care about them in England?” Billie inquired and Tom chuckled.

“No but I was so young at the time. I don’t really think I completely understood the situation.” He told her. “And everything happened so fast back then that I never fully processed it.”

Billie wanted to say that she really hated the way he said “processed” but that would be a lie. Ugh! Billie was grossed out by herself. Two minutes around this guy and she was already fawning over his accent like she was one of those lame One Direction fan girls and he was Harry Styles. She normally sneered at those girls in disgust but now she was being just as bad as them.

“I get it.” Billie said quietly and Tom raised an eyebrow.

“Do you?” He asked her and she nodded. Tom gave her a curious look.

“Yes, when I did the Winter Soldier and saw Robert Redford there it was kind of like…how the fuck is this my life?” Billie said bluntly once more and Tom laughed. “One minute I’m no one, just Jon Hamm's smart ass daughter on Mad Men, and then I’m working with the Sundance Kid of all people.”

“Yeah, Robert Redford…he’s definitely a legend.” Tom replied and Billie nodded.

“But you get used to it. I mean, it’s scary being around all these people at first but then you realize they’re a bunch of idiots just like normal people.” Billie told him and Tom could tell this was her odd sense of humor again. “There’s no difference except they’re even more stupid than regular people. They couldn’t get a real job like a normal person so they became actors.”

“But you’re an actor too.” Tom said, sounding somewhat confused although he didn’t think he was insulted even though she basically said that all actors were stupid. Billie shrugged.

“Exactly.” Billie retorted before she took another sip of her coke. Tom just stared back at her as he tried to figure her out. God, this girl was like some sort of puzzle…although he was fairly sure there was a few pieces missing in this particular puzzle. That much was clear.

“So uh…” Tom trailed off awkwardly as he tried to change the subject. “Too bad it’s not legal for us to drink here in the states yet, huh? Back home it’s quite different.” He gestured to the glass bottle of soda and Billie just shrugged.

“But illegal underage drinking is half the fun. I doubt I’ll ever drink when it’s actually legal. That’s boring.” Billie drawled and Tom had a feeling that this girl was going to be a bad influence on him but in a good way. “If you want I can show you where Grillo keeps his booze.”

“But I thought this was Anthony Mackie’s house?” Tom asked her in confusion and Billie nodded.

“It is but Grillo likes to bring his own booze with him everywhere he goes. He’s like a borderline alcoholic.” Billie told him and Tom didn’t know whether or not she was being serious. Was she joking or not joking? He really couldn’t tell.

“Um…no. I think I’m okay with this.” Tom said as he once again gestured to his bottle of soda awkwardly. Billie smirked.

“Relax. I’m just messing with you.” Billie told him and Tom was a bit relieved. “Grillo’s so attached to his booze he’d probably notice it was missing the second it was gone.”

“Good to know.” Tom said, not sure what else to say to the odd girl.

He still wasn’t sure what to make of the very odd teenage girl. His younger brothers, who happened to have a crush on the actress, had asked Tom about her. They had wanted to know what the beautiful young actress was like but Tom really didn’t have an answer for them. He was pretty stumped. Tom then decided that it was probably best to change the subject before Billie Aufderheide ended up getting both him and herself into trouble.

“So Billie’s an interesting name.” Tom stated as he not so discreetly changed the subject. “Is it short for something?” Billie raised an eyebrow in amusement at him.

“What do you think it’s short for?” Billie questioned and Tom blushed before shrugging.

“I don’t know. Belinda maybe?” Tom told her and Billie resisted the urge to laugh. She shook her head.

“Nope. Definitely not Belinda.” Billie told him. “I’m afraid it’s just Billie. Plain and simple. Mom wasn’t really in her right mind when she decided to name me after a movie character.”

“She could’ve name after a cool movie character like Indiana Jones or Ripley.” Billie said as she continued. “But she didn’t. She named me after a movie with a 40% score on Rotten Tomatoes.” Tom gave the blonde a curious look.

“What movie character is that?” Tom asked her and Billie blushed when she realized she had said too much. She didn’t really tend to tell people about this since it was embarrassing. Billie doubted that her Wikipedia page even had this information on it although Billie wouldn’t know. She was too scared to look at her Wikipedia page.

Billie then mumbled a name but Tom couldn’t quite hear her. She was speaking so softly that he had to strain his ears to try and distinguish her words. He gave her a confused look.

“What was that?” He asked her and Billie groaned in frustration before finally speaking louder.

“I said that she named me after Billy Madison.” Billie said louder but not looking entirely pleased. Tom stared at her silently for a moment as he tried processing that piece of information. For a moment he thought she might’ve been kidding but there was no smirk or raised eyebrow that suggested that she was kidding. No, Tom was almost entirely positive that Billie was being serious.

“Really? Adam Sadler? Your mum named you after an Adam Sadler character?” Tom questioned and Billie sighed.

“Yes, she did.” Billie said in confirmation.

“Your middle name too?” Tom asked and Billie nodded.

“I’m afraid so…Billie Madison Aufderheide” Billie told him although Aufderheide wasn’t technically her real last name. Tom just shook his head.

“Your mum sounds really evil. No offense.” Tom told her and Billie just shrugged.

“She’s not evil. She was just really young at the time.” Billie informed him. “My mom tried to convince me that it was a really popular movie back then but I doubt it. What sucks is that she doesn’t even like that movie anymore.”

“That does suck.” Tom said as he agreed with her. “But at least she gave you the feminine spelling. It could be worse.”

“Yeah. At least there’s more female Billie’s around now too. It’s not that weird of a name.” Billie replied. “I actually met a Billie recently so that’s nice.”

“There’s also Billie Jean.” Tom pointed out and Billie gave him a confused look.

“Billie Jean? Who’s that?” She asked him and Tom gave her a shocked look. He thought it may have been her messing with him again but he was proven wrong by the genuinely confused look on her face.

“You don’t know Billie Jean?” Tom asked her in surprise and Billie shook her head.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Billie Jean as in Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.” Tom told her and Billie realized that she really didn’t have a clue then. She basically knew nothing of Michael Jackson…except for that one song ‘Thriller’ but everyone knew that song. There was also that other song but Billie was fairly sure that was the Jackson Five which was Michael Jackson in his younger days. Besides…Billie only knew about ‘I Want You Back’ because of Guardians of the Galaxy.

“I don’t really know much about Michael Jackson. I’ve never listened to him that much.” Billie admitted and Tom looked at her in disbelief.

“You don’t listen to Michael Jackson? How is that possible? He’s a legend.” Tom told her and Billie shrugged.

“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t really grow up listening to him.” Billie told Tom and she was very amused to see how annoyed he seemed to be that she wasn’t a Michael Jackson fan. Billie didn’t have anything against Michael Jackson. She just hadn’t taken the time to listen to him.

“What did you grow up listening to? Garth Brooks?” Tom asked her and Billie gave him an impressed look. He was actually being pretty bitchy right now. No one really talked to her that way but Billie kind of liked it. She was also a little impressed that he knew who Garth Brooks was although maybe not that impressed. Garth Brooks was one of the few country singers that had made it internationally. Most country singers didn’t. Billie feigned an unamused look.

“No, I didn’t just listen to Garth Brooks.” Billie mocked and Tom smirked at her.

“So you admit that you do listen to Garth Brooks.” Tom said smugly and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Yes, Holland, I listen to country music. Believe it or not, not all of it’s that bad. Garth Brooks, George Strait, Dolly Parton, and Alan Jackson are some of the greatest musicians there ever was.” Billie said, defending her love of country music.

“It’s not all about trucks, farms, and drinking like Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton would have you believe.” Billie told him although Billie would never admit to being secretly addicted to ‘Country Girl(Shake It For Me)’ and ‘Boys Round Here’. If Mackie found out that she listened to those songs on constant repeat then he'd never let her live it down.

“You sound really passionate about country music.” Tom observed in amusement and Billie gave him a challenging look.

“Well, country music is great. Some of the modern stuff was amazing too until Taylor Swift came along and fucked it all up. She was a country music poser.” Billie said insultingly and Tom’s eyes widened. Was she really insulting T-Swift? Could you do that in Hollywood?

“That’s harsh.” Tom remarked.

“Look, I like some of her music but she should’ve just stuck to pop music to begin with. She was never country.” Billie said honestly. “Anyways, I was just trying to point out that not everyone in the south listens to country music and country music alone. I grew up listening to the Doors, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Alice Cooper too. See? Not all country.”

“So you like rock?” Tom inquired curiously and Billie nodded.

“I love rock.” Billie corrected but before she could say anything else, Anthony Mackie butted in on their conversation. He had the bowl of potato salad she made in his hands as he stuffed his face. How attractive, Billie thought to herself sarcastically. His wife was so lucky.

“Are we talking about bands?” Anthony asked, his mouth stuffed full of potato salad. Billie gave him a disgusted look.

“Are you eating all the potato salad? You’re such a pig, Mackie!” Billie said in annoyance. “I made that for everyone.”

“Because I think Earth, Wind, and Fire is the best band of all time.” Anthony said as he ignored her. Billie rolled her eyes.

“Earth, Wind, and Fire is not the best band of all time.” Billie argued. “They’re not even rock. You can’t throw them in the same category as the Rolling Stones or Eagles. They’re more like a singing group than an actual band.” Anthony gave her an offended look.

“You take that back, young lady, or I’ll have you grounded.” Anthony told her and Billie glared at him. Tom just watched the two in amusement. “Earth, Wind, and Fire is the greatest band of all time. I don’t care what your millennial ass has to say about that.”

“Eagles is the best band of all time. Everyone knows it.” Billie told him seriously.

“I second that!” Jeremy called out and Billie gave the famous actor a look of appreciation.

“Thank you, Renner. At least someone knows what rock music is.” Billie said before looking back at Anthony.

“What about the Beatles?” Paul Bettany said as he inserted himself into the conversation. “I think everyone would agree that the Beatles are the best.”

“Stay out of this, Bettany!” Anthony said before looking at the blonde girl. “You’re really pissing me off, Aufderheide.”

“Just go eat your potato salad, Mackie.” Billie told him but Anthony ignored her as he looked between the two teenagers curiously.

“So…what are you two kids gossiping about anyways?” Anthony asked them and Billie gave him a bored look.

“We’re gossiping about you, Mackie. We were talking about you behind your back all this time.” Billie said, her voice thick with sarcasm. “I was just telling Tom how your wife makes you piss sitting down.” Anthony playfully glared at her and Tom looked worriedly at the older actor, afraid that Billie was going to start something with him.

“You’re real funny, kid.” Anthony muttered as Billie gave him an innocent look. Tom awkwardly cleared his throat.

“We were actually just making small talk, Mr. Mackie.” Tom said almost shyly and Anthony gave the boy an amused look.

Tom didn’t really know why he referred to Anthony Mackie as Mr. Mackie. He didn’t know if he could just call him Anthony since he didn’t really know him and Anthony Mackie was a very talented actor with an impressive resume and who had even attended Julliard. Tom only knew Anthony Mackie had attended Julliard because it was one of the first things the older actor had told him when they first met a few days ago.

“Anthony’s fine, kid.” Anthony told him in amusement. “Mr. Mackie’s my dad and he’s a grumpy son of a bitch. Not too different than Aufderheide here. She actually reminds me a lot of my dad.” Billie glared at him.

“You should really watch how much of that potato salad you eat, Mackie. It would be embarrassing if you ate so much that you broke your harness tomorrow on set.” Billie said as she playfully insulted the actor. “A falcon that’s so fat that it can’t fly is really sad.”

“You’re a mean little girl.” Anthony told her as he pretended to be upset with her. “I’m going to go see what Lizzie’s up to. Maybe she’ll be nicer to me than you are.”

“I doubt it.” Billie told him and Anthony just shook his head at her before casting one last glance in Tom’s direction.

“See ya, Billy Elliot.” Anthony told him before he walked off in the opposite direction. Billie rolled her eyes as she watched him before returning her attention to Tom who just looked confused by the way Billie interacted with Anthony Mackie.

“Is he always going to call me that?” Tom asked her and Billie shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Billie told him truthfully. “He really likes calling me Sally Draper.

“You two seem to have an…interesting friendship.” Tom observed, still mystified by everything that had to do with Billie Aufderheide.

“Mackie’s okay. He’s actually really funny which kind of reminds everyone not to take themselves so seriously.” Billie explained as Tom listened to her. “Although it’s seldom that anyone gets any work done when he’s on set. He’s highly distracting.”

“Speaking of different cast members, I was kind of wondering if…” Tom trailed off, not sure how to ask his question without offending her or anyone else. He didn’t want to seem rude.

“Wondering what?” Billie asked impatiently. She could tell this kid had a habit of not getting to the point. Billie usually couldn’t stand people like that but it was actually kind of amusing on Tom.

“I was wondering if there might be anyone on set that was…I don’t know…maybe a little difficult to work with? Someone who I might have to watch out for?” Tom inquired politely and Billie smirked at him.

“Oh, you mean someone like me?” Billie asked teasingly and Tom blushed before shaking his head.

“No, of course not. You seem very…pleasant.” Tom told her and Billie couldn’t believe how big of a bullshitter this kid was. He was also a terrible liar.

“Don’t be a suck up, Holland.” Billie said bluntly before answering his question. “But to answer your question…no. Everyone’s sickingly nice and friendly which is boring. I’d kill for an asshole like Christian Bale or Russell Crowe on set. At least things would be fun then.”

Tom just stared at her but convinced himself that he was just going to have to get used to her. He didn’t think he had met anyone who said the things she said but he had to learn not to get offended. This was clearly just the way she was and Tom even found her to be entirely fascinating. How could he not? She was possibly the most blunt and honest person he had ever met which was saying a lot since Tom barely knew her.

“Right…well, I’m glad to hear that.” Tom said quietly and Billie took pity on the nineteen year old. If someone asked then Billie would deny it because she didn’t take pity on anyone. It wasn’t her fault that Holland had those sad pathetic puppy dog eyes.

“I can introduce you to the others if you want.” Billie suggested quietly and Tom’s face lit up with both excitement and relief.

“Really? That would be great.” Tom told her and he was just grateful to finally have an in with the cast. Billie smiled softly at him.

“I’ll introduce you to Seb first. He’s my favorite.” Billie told him as she began to lead him over to Sebastian. Tom followed her, feeling overwhelmed yet excited to meet the rest of the cast. This felt so surreal to him that he could hardly believe it but he could tell that this was only the beginning.

The rest of the get together party at Anthony’s house consisted of constant laughter and chatter as Billie introduced Tom to the others. She eventually parted ways with him for the night as he became involved in a conversation with the likes of Paul Bettany and one of the producers. Billie smiled softly as he enthusiastically talked about his love for Paul’s work before she and Sebastian left for that movie he promised to take her to. Tom would eventually pause in his long conversation with Paul and the producer to glance around the party for Billie only to be disappointed when he couldn’t find her.

The American actress certainly had a way of getting inside his head until all this thoughts were consumed by her for the entire night. Tom quickly learned that there was only one Billie Aufderheide in the world. No one, not even the likes of Robert Downey Jr. or Scarlett Johansson, could be as interesting to him as she was. 

Tom was almost positive of that.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie attends a training session with Tom for their fight scene in the movie before Tom asks to hang out with her some time.

'“Mom, I’m completely fine. I already told you.” Billie said into her phone as she hurriedly looked around her trailer for her pair of shoes.

Billie was currently getting ready for a training session/rehearsal for one of the airport fight scenes in the movie. Billie had already filmed a fight scene with Scarlett but there was supposedly numerous fight scenes that the Russo brothers had to throw together for the airport scene which was who knows how many minutes long. Billie had no idea what it was going to look like when it was all finished but hopefully it looked great.

“I’m just worried about you being all alone over there for the whole summer.” Sarah Aufderheide told her. Billie looked under the couch for the shoes but they weren’t there either. Damn…where the hell did she put those shoes? She knew they were in here from when she trained with Scarlett.

“You’re the one who said it was okay.” Billie told her mother.

“I know, I know. I just worry about you, Gator.” Her mom said and Billie blushed in embarrassment.

“Mom, I told you not to call me Gator anymore. The last time you called me that, Seb and Mackie heard you and they still won’t let me live it down.” Billie tried to tell her but her mom only laughed.

“I only call you Gator because you’re so grumpy all the time…like a little gator.” Her mom teased and Billie sulked even though her mother couldn’t see her.

“Whatever.” Billie mumbled.

“Don’t be like that. I’m only teasing you…even though you also have a weird obsession with those animals. ” Her mom told her. “I can’t believe you’re almost an adult now yet you still brought that old stuffed alligator of yours with you to Atlanta.”

“I did not.” Billie argued and she could practically see her mother smirking at her.

“Well, Mr. Gator ain’t here. That’s for sure.” Her mother drawled in the same Texan accent that Billie had. Billie sulked even more because her mother knew her too well.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Billie continued to deny and Billie could tell her mom was rolling her eyes right about now.

“Anyways…how it’s going with that new boy on set? Are you two friends yet?” Her mom asked her and this time Billie actually did roll her eyes.

“We’re not friends, Mom. We’re co-workers.” Billie told her.

“God, Billie, you sound just like my dad. Lighten up a little.” Her mom tried to tell her. “By the way…I googled that boy. He’s not exactly bad looking, Billie. Not to mention he’s British.”

“Why do you sound so interested, Mom? Want me to get you his number?” Billie asked sarcastically. “Don’t worry. He’s not jailbait anymore.”

“You’re hilarious, Billie.” Her mom told her with just as much sarcasm before growing more serious. “I just want to know what’s going on with your dating life. You know you can talk about boys with me, right?” Billie groaned.

“Oh my god, Mom. Stop.” Billie complained loudly.

“Just don’t let any boy pressure you into anything, okay? But if you want to have sex then it’s your decision. Just remember to wear protection.” Her mom informed her. Billie really loved her mother but sometimes the woman drove her crazy.

“I’m not going to have sex with my costar who I barely know, Mom. What’s wrong with you?!” Billie argued. “Besides…you don’t need to have the sex talk with me. I lost my virginity over a year ago. Remember? It sucked just like I knew it would.”

“Wait one second, Billie. What are you-“ Billie hung up on her mom before she tiredly rubbed her eyes. It was clear to her that she was going to get a headache. She honestly didn’t know why Sebastian had a thing for her mother because her mother was so irritating. She understood that her mom was beautiful, or young and hot according to Anthony, but her mom was also literally the craziest person in the world.

Billie just sat there on the floor in her t-shirt and those really nice athletic leggings from Kate Hudson’s fashion line as she tried to erase her conversation with her mother from her head. She supposed that was what happened when you and your mom were close in age. Her mom was more like a best friend than a mom.

When Billie’s parents were still together her mom had been the more responsible parent but now that her dad was gone, Billie’s mom was both a responsible and free spirited kind of parent. It also didn’t help that people always thought her mom was her sister. Literally everyone in the cast thought that Billie’s mom was her sister before Billie had to correct them. It was so embarrassing. However, before Billie could think anymore on it, she found the one thing she had spent the past fifteen minutes looking for.

Her shoes.

“Oh, thank god.” Billie said as she grabbed her Nikes from underneath her coffee table and clutched them to her chest. Instead of immediately getting up from the ground to put on her sneakers, Billie just laid there on the ground. Was she really looking forward to the training session? No, definitely not. Oh, well. It’s not like she could exactly run and hide. It was better to get this whole thing over with anyways.

 

 

Billie and Tom watched two experienced trainers go at it as they showed the two actors what they were going to have to do for the movie. Tom watched with wide eyes as the two trainers moved like dancers through the room as they fought with much more grace than Tom thought he would have doing the same exact thing. The fight coordinator seemed to be watching the two trainers closely, critiquing their movements.

Billie just watched them curiously but she couldn’t help but wonder what the hell she signed herself up for when she signed on to do these movies. Fourteen year old Billie had been so excited and thrilled to be a part of such a huge movie franchise. However, seventeen year old Billie just wanted to get it all over with so she could take a cold shower in her hotel room before sleeping for ten hours straight.

“This looks scary, huh?” Tom inquired, trying to make small talk with the quiet girl. He always found it difficult to speak to her. Tom wasn’t sure if it was because she was so beautiful and famous or if it was just because she was scary. Probably because she was scary.

“I guess.” Billie said as she shrugged and Tom noticed that she could be amazingly vague when she wanted to be. It was incredibly difficult to get a conversation out of her. Tom didn’t think Billie was shy by any means but she just seemed to keep to herself a lot.

It had been a week since Anthony Mackie’s party and Tom had barely spoken to Billie. He had seen her on set all the time but she barely glanced in his direction. Sometimes she gave him a nod but she never smiled or even waved at him. Although Billie didn’t seem to be the sort of person who smiled or waved at people. Tom just wanted to be friends with her because it’s not like any of his friends back home could just drop everything and hop on a plane to Atlanta. It would be nice to have a friend here on set.

“Can you believe we’re actually going to have to do that?” Tom asked her and Billie raised an eyebrow.

“You know we’re not going to fight for real, right? We’re going to pretend to fight. It’s all make believe.” Billie told him and Tom felt a bit annoyed at the fact she was talking to him like he was stupid. Of course he knew that. He was just trying to make conversation with her.

“I know.” Tom mumbled but it wasn’t until then that he heard the Texan say something under her breath. “I’m sorry. What was that?” Billie just rolled her eyes.

“I said that you better be glad that it’s only make believe otherwise I’d knock you on your scrawny ass, Harry Potter.” Billie quipped and it was moments like this that Tom wondered if she was kidding or not. It was so hard to tell with her.

“Are you calling me Harry Potter because I’m from England?” Tom asked incredulously and Billie nodded as is it were obvious.

“Pretty much.” Billie confirmed and Tom scoffed.

“That’s kind of rude. I don’t call you Dolly Parton because you’re from Texas.” Tom retorted and Billie just smirked at him.

“Well, the joke's on you. Dolly Parton’s from Tennessee.” Billie said smugly before she walked off to get a bottle of water. Tom just watched her walk away in disbelief. Was that girl actually being serious?

“Okay, you two.” The fight coordinator announced as the two trainers stopped the demonstration. Billie was pretty sure his name was Brad but she couldn’t be sure. She was really bad with names. It wasn’t a Hollywood thing either. Even before she went to Hollywood she could never remember people’s names. Just ask the kids she used to go to school with. She was lucky she remembered Tom’s name. That one was easy to remember because a lot of British guys seemed to be named Tom.

Tom Hiddleston.

Tom Hardy.

Tom Felton.

She could go on.

“Now that you’ve seen how it’s supposed to go we can start training you for the big scene. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to require a lot of work. You two need to be focused.” He told the both of them but it was clear he was mainly looking at Billie. Billie wasn’t super thrilled about cardio and anything to do with working out. Despite once being a baseball player, Billie was super lazy when it came to that stuff. It’s not like many baseball players were fit anyways. Babe Ruth definitely wasn’t in shape back when he was still around.

“Tom, have you started the diet regimen and training program we emailed you?” Brad asked him and Tom nodded furiously.

“Yes. For the past two weeks.” Tom confirmed. Billie raised an eyebrow at him. Geez, this kid seemed super eager to show everyone how much of an overachiever he was. Billie didn’t know if she was going to like him. He was probably going to make her look bad.

“What about you, Miss Aufderheide?” Brad asked her, seeming more doubtful and even a little suspicious. It was no secret around set that Billie broke a bunch of diet and exercise rules. It’s not like Marvel could really give her a strict diet since she was technically still a minor but she also had a really simple diet.

Billie wasn’t supposed to eat a lot of junk food but instead just eat healthy but Billie did eat junk food. What else was she supposed to eat when she binge watched 2 Broke Girls. It’s not like she could eat a bag of carrots. That was lame. Billie had a real weakness for Goldfish too which she didn’t think was as bad as Pringles. Cheddar crackers were healthier than chips, right?

However, the exercise thing was something else entirely. Marvel really wanted Billie to train like she was getting ready for some kind of marathon. There was a local private gym that many of the cast members went to so they could train. Billie normally went straight for the treadmill because it was way better than doing the weird shit that Chris and Anthony did. At this point, Billie would even take yoga over all the other cardio stuff and she thought yoga was the worst thing ever. There was also another reason why Brad seemed suspicious when he asked her the question. It was because Billie tended to lie a lot when he asked her about how often she went to the gym.

Billie had grown up in Texas doing actual work, real work, out in the field helping her Aunt and Uncle on their property…unlike some of these other actors who had soft hands because they didn’t know what real work was. At least Billie knew what it meant to work hard in the blazing heat. Okay…so Billie was only making excuses at this point because she really didn’t want to go to the gym. It was literally the last thing she wanted to do. Couldn’t they just use her stunt double for all that crap? Ingrid had to be bored from all this sitting around all the time. Why not let Ingrid have some fun and do more stunts? Ingrid liked all this boring work out stuff anyways. This was actually fun for her.

“Yup.” Billie said vaguely and Brad gave her a look.

“Well, I don’t know what “yup” means. Does that mean you’ve gone to the gym like you’re supposed to or does this mean that we have to get a babysitter to make sure you go to the gym?” Brad asked. Wow…someone’s being a real bitch today, Billie thought to herself. She fought the urge to do the stereotypical teenage thing by rolling her eyes.

“I mean that I sometimes go to the gym. Why, Bradley? Are you calling me fat?” Billie teased and Brad just rolled his eyes at the actress while Tom glanced at her curiously.

“It’s just Brad actually. It’s not short for anything.” Brad told her before continuing. “Anyways…I’m assuming you didn’t go to the gym because you’re a compulsive liar so I’m going to make sure Stan and Mackie force you to go. What about your diet then? Are you eating healthy?”

“Sure am.” Billie said with a smile, her cute Texan accent becoming suspiciously thicker. If you count a three meat pizza as healthy, Billie thought to herself smugly. Brad still didn’t look like he believed her. Her mom usually made her eat healthier but her mom wasn’t here right now so Billie did what any teenager would do…which was doing whatever she wanted.

“Right…well, keep it up.” He said, sounding unconvinced. Brad then decided to bring their attention back to the task at hand. “Now we’re just going to show you a couple simple moves to start things off fresh. Julie and Trent will slow it down for you.”

“That sounds so exciting.” Tom said happily and Billie resisted the urge to make a sarcastic comment about his happiness. God, how was someone that happy over a training session? He looked like he was about to piss himself with excitement.

Brad then began talking them through the fight scene as they watched Julia and Trent, the trainers, demonstrate one of the first fight sequences very slowly. There seemed to be a lot of flips and spins in it on Tom’s part so Billie was just relieved that she wasn’t going to have to do that. Of course, she knew she would be eating her words when they put her in one of those holster things and hung her up from the ceiling before reminding her of her ninth birthday party at Six Flags as they pulled her back and forth through the air. So Billie doubted that Tom was going to get all the hard parts. He was lucky that Spider-Man didn’t fly like the Viper Assassin did.

Lucky him. 

 

 

Billie and Tom practiced a couple moves their trainers showed them which was an exhausting process since it seemed like they were always doing something wrong. Brad decided to call it a day a couple hours later which Billie was eternally grateful for but he was adamant that she hit the gym later on to work on her cardio. Blah, blah, blah. Billie normally would’ve opted out but she was positive he would send Seb or Mackie on her. Or worse…Evans. Billie would rather not be around Evans when he trained. He’d probably be all smug about how ripped he was or how much he worked out. Billie really didn’t want to hear it from him today.

Tom spotted the blonde still in the room as she stared at the screen of her phone, probably scrolling through her messages or social media. He was somewhat nervous to speak to her because he was never sure how to. The blonde was almost unapproachable and not just because of her movie star looks but because of her oddness. She was probably the strangest person Tom had ever met. Well, this was Hollywood, after all, so maybe there were weirder people out there. Woody Harrelson seemed like he would be pretty weird.

Maybe all Texans were weird.

Maybe it was just a Texan thing.

“Um…Billie?” Tom asked quietly and the blonde looked up from her phone.

“Yes?” She said, still a bit distracted from her phone. Billie had been texting Tyler, the boy she liked from back home, but she was starting to get bored from the conversation. All Tyler was talking about was something hilarious that happened today at football practice. Billie didn’t really find it that funny. More juvenile than funny but whatever made him happy she guessed. Maybe this dating a guy her own age thing wasn't a good idea for her right now.

“I tried to follow you on Instagram and Twitter the other day.” Tom said abruptly. He nearly winced when he said that because he realized he kind of sounded like a stalker. Why did he say that? He felt really stupid now. Billie looked up at him in surprise.

“What?” She questioned and Tom blushed before shrugging.

“I tried to follow you on Instagram and Twitter but I couldn’t find you anywhere. I only found a few of those fan pages which is really nice and all. Your fans seem really cool and lovely but-“ Tom started to ramble but Billie cut him off impatiently.

“What are you trying to say?” Billie asked him, wanting him to get to the point. Tom cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I guess I’m just wondering where I can follow you or…” Tom trailed off nervously and Billie just looked at him for a moment before shrugging and looking back at her phone.

“You can’t follow me.” Billie told him and Tom was slightly hurt by her statement. What did she mean he couldn’t follow her? Did she mean that she didn’t want him to…like she didn’t like him or something?

“Oh…” Tom trailed off but before he could ask why, Billie answered his unspoken question.

“You can’t follow me because I don’t have any social media accounts.” Billie told him much to Tom’s surprise. He gave her a confused look.

“What do you mean you don’t have any social media accounts? Like zero?” Tom questioned and he was beyond confused by this girl at this point. He thought he might not ever understand her.

“None. Not even a Facebook account.” Billie told him and Tom just shook his head.

“Why?” He asked her and Billie shrugged once more.

“Because I believe that social media will be the collapse of society. It spreads negativity and turns people against each other. It's also one of the worst inventions of the twenty first century.” Billie told him honestly and Tom just stared at her silently, trying to process her unbelievably cynical answer. He couldn’t believe that was an actual answer someone had for not having an Instagram or Twitter account.

“But it also connects you to people you wouldn’t otherwise meet. You get to connect with people all around the world.” Tom told her as he tried to convince her that social media was a good thing. He still couldn’t believe she didn’t have an Instagram or Twitter account. She was a teenager like him. Weren’t people their age supposed to be on social media all the time?

“Why would I want to do that?” Billie asked him as if she couldn’t comprehend why anyone would want to do that. Tom gave her an odd look.

“I don’t know. Maybe you could connect with your fans and talk to them.” Tom suggested and Billie still didn’t look convinced.

“But that’s narcissistic. I’d be talking to a bunch of people who like me for no reason at all.” Billie pointed out. “I’d also be encouraging them to look at all the useless crap I do when they should be living their own lives doing way more important stuff than I’ll ever do.”

“They’re your fans. They love your films and work in television. That’s why they’re your fans.” Tom tried to tell her.

“Yes, but they don’t really know me. I might be a complete asshole in real life. They should pay more attention to their own lives.” Billie told him and Tom knew she had a point but he still didn’t see anything wrong with social media. “I’m not a snob or anything. I take selfies with them if I’m out somewhere and they see me…and I’ll also sign whatever they want. I mean, there’s exceptions like someone’s boobs or penis but I’ll still sign most things.”

“Social media really isn’t that bad, Billie.” Tom said as he began to wonder if people actually asked to have their boobs or penis signed. He had never been asked to autograph anything before so he wouldn’t know.

“I just don’t think it’s for me.” Billie told him and Tom nodded even though he still thought it was odd that she was a seventeen year old girl who wasn’t on Instagram. Tom was now completely sure she was weirdest person he had ever met. There was no doubt about it. “Why do you want to follow me anyways?”

“I uh…well, I was kind of curious about you.” Tom admitted bashfully and Billie gave him an amused look.

“Curious about what?” Billie asked him and Tom shrugged although he felt really embarrassed that he admitted to being curious about her.

“I don’t know. Everything, I suppose.” Tom told her and Billie smirked at him.

“Did you google me?” She asked him and Tom’s eyes widened before he furiously shook his head.

“No. I didn’t. I thought that might be weird since I kind of know you now.” Tom replied and Billie just nodded.

“My mom googled you.” She said unabashedly. Tom gave the blonde a surprised look. Well, he certainly hadn’t been expecting that.

“Really? What did she find?” Tom asked curiously but also nervously. He wasn’t sure what kind of things Billie would find out about him. He just hoped it was nothing too embarrassing.

“I don’t really know. I didn’t ask. My mom does weird shit like that all the time so I learned a long time ago not to ask any questions.” Billie told him and Tom was a bit relieved to hear that.

“Well, your mum sounds…nice.” Tom said politely and Billie rolled her eyes.

“More like insane.” She muttered and Tom wondered what her mom was like. Did she look exactly like Billie with long blonde hair and pretty blue eyes? Or did she look entirely different? Was she kind of odd like Billie or normal? Well, from the story Billie told him about how she got her name he could deduce that her mother was perhaps odd like her. Not that it was a bad thing. It was just very interesting.

“So I was kind of wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out later?” Tom asked Billie as confidently as he could before he lost any courage. He had been wanting to ask Billie to hang out with him for a while but he was a little too intimidated by her to ask until now.

“What?” She questioned in confusion, not expecting that. Tom blushed.

“Well, I’m not completely familiar with the area and I assume you might be since you’ve been here a lot longer than I have so-“

“You’re not asking me out, are you?” Billie interrupted him abruptly and Tom’s eyes widened in surprise.

“No, of course not. I just meant that we could hang out as friends.” Tom said nervously and he couldn’t believe he was actually in this situation with Billie Aufderheide of all people. “Not that I wouldn’t want to go out with you. You seem like an amazing person and you’re very-“

“Good.” Billie said as she interrupted him once again. She didn’t want to listen to him ramble on like he always seemed to do when he was nervous. “Because I don’t date co-stars.” Tom nodded.

“That’s a completely understandable rule. I get it.” Tom said and he did understand her rule in a way. It was actually a really responsible and logical rule to have. Especially in their line of work where their personal lives were so public. Well, at least Billie’s was. Tom didn’t think he was quite there yet.

“So where do you want to hang out, Holland?” She asked and Tom shrugged.

“I don’t know. I was hoping you would know. I don’t really know a whole lot of places around here.” Tom told her and he was just relieved that she agreed to hang out with him. He thought she would say no or something.

“I know a couple places we could go to not too far from here. There’s this one really great place here in Atlanta with real homestyle Southern cooking. It’s the closest thing to home.” Billie told him and Tom nodded, already liking the sound of that.

“I’ve never had Southern food.” Tom told her although Billie wasn’t that surprised. He was from England, after all. The most Southern cooking in England was probably KFC and Billie didn’t even consider KFC as one of the top fast food chicken joints. She was a Church’s Chicken kind of girl all the way. All the best Texans were.

Although…it looked like Billie wasn’t going to be allowed to hit up Church’s Chicken as much as she wanted anymore because the Viper Assassin apparently didn’t eat fried chicken. Stupid Emma Rogers and her fast metabolism which explained how she never got fat from eating so much. However, Billie was an actual human who would get fat if she ate junk food every night like she wanted.

“Your life will become a whole lot better once you’ve tried Southern comfort food. It’s the best.” Billie told him and Tom smiled. He was just looking forward to finally making a friend on set and Billie seemed cool. Granted she was really weird but Tom liked her. He wasn’t sure what it was about her but she just seemed a lot more honest than most people seemed to be in Hollywood. It was refreshing…even if her honesty was a little too blunt at times.

“Well, could I maybe have your number then? So we can make plans?” Tom asked her and Billie nodded before gesturing for him to hand her his phone. He quickly handed his phone over to her and Billie began to type her phone number into his contact list.

“Just don’t send me any dick pics or anything. I’ll block you if you do that.” Billie told him randomly and Tom nearly choked on his own breath as she handed the phone back to him. She smiled at him.

“I’m kidding, Holland.” Billie told him teasingly, mischief in her eyes. “I’ll actually get a restraining order against you if you send me dick pics.” Tom swallowed hard as he nodded furiously.

“Right…well, I’ll make sure not to do that.” Tom said because he was pretty sure he’d also get arrested if he did that. Not that he was thinking about doing that. Damn it…this girl had a way of getting inside his head.

“I should go.” Billie announced as she started picking up her things. “I need to go back to my hotel room and spend the rest of afternoon doing absolutely nothing before Seb and Mackie force me into the whole gym thing.”

“Sounds like fun.” Tom remarked as he smiled at her. Billie actually returned his smile this time as she began to leave.

“I highly doubt it. See you around, Holland.” Billie told him as she left.

Tom watched her leave but he couldn’t help but shake his head in amusement as he watched her go. She was kind of crazy but Tom could see him and Billie being friends with each other. Tom really liked her. He just couldn’t tell whether or not she liked him. Well, he didn’t know what it looked like when Billie actually did like a person. The only person he was positive that she liked was Sebastian Stan. Either way, Tom just hoped that they could be friends.

He’d really like that.


	8. Chapter Eight: Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie and Tom have dinner out in a strictly non-date fashion.

Billie didn’t know why she even made an effort. This wasn’t a date. This was just supposed to be two friends hanging out. Friend…since when did she have friends? Well, she had friends back home but that was different. Her group of friends in Hollywood was very small. She could probably count them all on one hand. Sebastian, Tye, and maybe Anthony too if he didn’t piss her off that day. Either way, Billie still didn’t know what she was doing getting all dressed up for this guy. Maybe she was just vain. Yeah, that was it. She just had a reputation to uphold.

She was wearing a red a-line chiffon skirt with a random concert t-shirt tucked into the waistband of the skirt. The t-shirt was there to signal that she wasn’t trying too hard. Not to mention it was a concert shirt from that HAIM concert she went to last year. Billie paired the t-shirt and skirt combo with a pair of keds. Billie thought the outfit was nice without trying too hard.

The blonde applied her make-up in the bathroom mirror. She didn’t want to put on too much since this was just a friends thing and not an actual date. Besides…Billie wasn’t into him like that. Billie just went with some eyeliner and mascara. It’s not like she was going to a premiere or anything. She might as well just have her hair down while she was at it too.

Billie finally finished and left the bathroom. She momentarily debated whether or not she should wear her sunglasses. It kind of made sense. It was hot out, after all, although the main reason Billie was going to wear sunglasses was to hide her identity. People always seemed to recognize her everywhere she went these days. She supposed that’s what happened when you starred in a couple of Marvel films. You just became instantly recognizable. Billie just didn’t want people thinking that she and Tom were out on a date. The last thing she needed were for people to think she was dating her new co-star.

Billie took the sunglasses off the coffee table in the living room before heading for the door.

Sunglasses for sure.

 

“This is actually really delicious.” Tom said as he pigged out on a plate full of fried chicken and waffles. Billie watched him in amusement as she took a sip from her glass of sweet tea. They were sitting on the patio of a restaurant in Atlanta. It was nearly night by now so it was surprisingly cool and not as hot as earlier.

“Really?” Billie asked him and Tom nodded.

“I’m pretty sure that Brad’s going to be able to tell that I didn’t stick to the diet but this is so worth it.” Tom told her and Billie smirked.

“This is my greatest achievement yet.” Billie told him and Tom paused in his eating to give her a confused look.

“What is?” He questioned.

“Making Spider-Man fat.” Billie said teasingly and Tom swallowed his food before smiling back at her.

“That was your evil genius plan all along?” Tom questioned in amusement. “To make Spider-Man fat.” Billie shrugged.

“Maybe not fat. Just a little curvy.” Billie told him, continuing to give him that teasing look. “You’re really scrawny, Holland. You look like you could eat a burger or two.”

“Me?” Tom said in disbelief as he looked back at her. “What about you?” Billie smirked.

“I happen to be an actress. I’m actually considered fat in Hollywood.” Billie told him as Tom just continued to stare at her in disbelief.

“Are you joking about Hollywood’s sexism?” Tom asked her.

“Well, if you can’t joke about it…” Billie trailed off jokingly but Tom was still troubled by her sense of humor. It was a kind of sense of humor that you wanted to laugh at but didn’t because you weren’t sure if it was appropriate or not. “Don’t worry. I don’t use the same methods the other ones use. I’m from Texas. I sweat it off.”

“And that works?” Tom asked and Billie shrugged.

“So far.” She told him. Tom nodded but he was still trying to figure her out. That’s why he wanted to hang out with her, after all. So he could get to know her a bit. She looked really pretty today, Tom noticed. Not that she didn’t normally look pretty but it was just nice being with her somewhere that wasn’t on set.

“So tell me more about you.” Tom said, looking very curious. Billie was so hard to read that Tom was dying to find out more about her.

“What do you want to know?” Billie asked him and Tom shrugged.

“Did you always want to be an actress?” Tom asked her. “Didn’t you say you used to play baseball?”

“I played baseball for a while. I really liked it at first but after a while I decided it wasn’t for me.” Billie said and that was only half the truth. The reason she quit baseball wasn’t that simple. Tom nodded.

“And you joined the children’s theater?” Tom inquired and Billie nodded.

“Yeah. I thought it was pretty lame at first but…I don’t know. It was a nice distraction.” Billie said, wondering if she might’ve given a bit too much away.

“Distraction from what?” Tom asked. So she had given too much away, after all.

“I’m from a small town. There’s not much to do there. Everyone’s obsessed with football and hunting.” Billie told him but it wasn’t the real reason she turned to acting. The only person she had ever told the truth to was Sebastian because he understood. Billie didn’t think anyone else would understand. Tom just nodded. He wouldn’t really know what small town life was like. He was from London.

“How did you first get into the industry?” Tom asked her curiously and for a moment Billie felt like she was being interviewed. However, she realized that he was just her co-star who was probably curious. It wasn’t like he was digging into her personal life or anything.

“I kind of hit it big on the first try with Mad Men. My character Sally was just supposed to be a reoccurring character but as the seasons went on, she became a main character. It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.” Billie told him as Tom listened to her intently.

"It can't just be that alone." Tom told her. "You're an amazing actress. Every actor I've ever met always talks about your part on Mad Men...how talented and amazing you are for someone so young." Billie shrugged.

"I didn't do it all on my own. I had the opportunity to learn from a lot of amazing actors like Jon and January. Some of the best, really." Billie explained, seemingly uncaring about the compliment Tom just gave her. "Some actors, like Anthony for example, had Julliard but I had Mad Men as my acting school. I'm a product of the people around me."

"Mad Men sounds like an amazing acting school." Tom remarked as he thought about how intriguing it was that Billie learned everything she needed to know just from growing up on the set of a very popular television series. He supposed you didn't need an actual acting school when you were surrounded by that many talented people.

"I almost quit acting anyways." Billie told him much to Tom's surprise. He gave her a confused.

"What?" Billie just shrugged once more.

"I was planning on just sticking to Mad Men and fulfilling my contract before quitting." Billie said as she told him the story of what changed her mind about acting. "It wasn't until I started filming this one movie which was my third or fourth project outside Mad Men. The movie was being shot in Arkansas which wasn’t too far from where I live...well, when I wasn't living in LA for Mad Men anyways.”

“What movie was this?” Tom asked her, completely intrigued.

“Mud.” Billie told him and Tom’s eyes widened a bit in recognition. He hadn’t seen the movie but he heard about it. It was supposed to be a really good movie from what he had heard. Maybe he should watch it since he hadn’t seen much of Billie’s work outside the MCU. “It was scary and overwhelming. At the time I wasn’t too sure about the whole acting thing. I wasn’t sure if it was what I wanted.”

“What changed your mind?” Tom asked and Billie smiled at the memory of her first movie.

“I watched Matthew McConaughey give this long emotional monologue and it just…well, it really changed my whole opinion.” Billie said honestly. “It was really inspiring.”

“I’d imagine so. He’s Matthew McConaughey, isn’t he?” Tom said and Billie laughed a little before nodding. Tom found that he liked it when she laughed. She always seemed so mature and cynical but she actually looked her age when she laughed. Her laughter was soft and infectious.

“Not to sound cliché and everything with the all Texans stick together thing but McConaughey is one of the greatest actors I’ve ever worked with.” Billie said, boasting about the famous actor’s talent. Tom smiled.

“I bet he is.” Tom said and Billie nodded before giving him a curious look of her own.

“What about you?” Billie asked him and Tom shrugged.

“My mum signed me up for dance classes when I was little. Eventually I auditioned for Billy Elliot on the West End.” Tom informed her.

“Yes, I think Robert mentioned something about Billy Elliot.” Billie told him and Tom’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Robert talks about me?” Tom asked in amazement and Billie rolled her eyes. This kid was too much.

“Relax. He wasn’t declaring his undying love for you or anything.” Billie told him and Tom blushed. “He just mentioned that you were in a really famous musical.”

“Are you interested in doing a musical?” Tom inquired and Billie stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. Tom didn’t know what he said that was so funny.

“Me? In a musical? You’re really funny, Holland.” Billie told him but Tom was just confused.

“Why is that funny?” Tom asked her and Billie gave him an amused look.

“I don’t dance.” She told him and Tom raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t dance? Like…not at all?” He asked her, clearly perplexed by everything that was Billie Aufderheide. “A Selena Gomez song comes on and you don’t even dance a little?” Billie gave him an unimpressed look.

“I don’t listen to Selena Gomez.” Billie said, sounding offending that he even suggested such a thing. Tom took a look at her HAIM t-shirt and decided to rephrase his question.

“Okay then…A HAIM song comes on and you don’t want to dance at all either?” Tom said and Billie shook her head.

“I just like to appreciate their artistry and their songwriting abilities. I can’t do that with Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift for obvious reasons.” Billie said in a way that made Tom almost think she was a robot or something. Billie was definitely a weird one. That was for sure.

“What about musicals? Does this mean you don’t like them?" He asked her and Billie sighed heavily.

“I just can’t watch them. There’s something about watching people spontaneously burst into song that makes me really uncomfortable.” Billie said honestly as Tom just watched her in amusement.

“So you really don’t like musicals then?” Tom questioned and Billie shrugged before leaning forward a bit.

“Let me put it this way for you, Holland. I always root for John Lithgow’s character in Footloose.” Billie told him and Tom laughed.

“Really? Reverend Shaw Moore?” Tom asked in amusement and Billie nodded.

“I think the Reverend was the real hero of the story.” Billie said jokingly. “Kevin Bacon should’ve been hanged for his crimes.” Tom was slowly starting to like Billie’s sense of humor. She seemed kind of crazy but only in a funny way.

“So that’s a no to musicals? There’s not even one you like?” Tom asked her and Billie bit her lip, not sure whether or not to be honest with him. She guessed she could despite how embarrassing it was to admit that she did happen to like a musical. One musical. Just one. It was the only musical she could admit to liking.

“Well, I do kind of like this one musical.” Billie admitted quietly and Tom raised an eyebrow.

“Really and what musical is this?” He asked her curiously.

“The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Billie told him and Tom stared at her in confusion for a long moment.

“Are you making that movie up?” Tom asked her and Billie shook her head.

“No, it’s a real movie and a really good one.” Billie confirmed.

“What’s it about?” He asked her and Billie looked at him like he was stupid.

“It’s about a whorehouse in Texas. What did you think it was about?” Billie retorted and Tom realized that he probably should’ve guessed that.

“Why do you love it so much?” He asked her and Billie shrugged.

“It’s Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton. What’s not to love?” Billie said, defending the only musical she liked. “Besides…the songs are nice. They’re not cringe-worthy showtunes like the other songs in musicals.”

“You don’t like showtunes?” Tom asked her and he wasn’t offended despite his many years of doing Billy Elliot. He was actually really amused.

“Nope. I thought I was the only one who hated musicals until I met this one guy I did a movie with a while back. We bonded over our hatred of showtunes.” Billie told him and Tom was suddenly curious about who this person was. What other actor hated showtunes as much as Billie seemed to? Maybe it was Matthew McConaughey. Tom could kind of see Matthew McConaughey not being a musical theater person.

“What person is that?” Tom questioned and Billie shrugged once more.

“I don’t really want to be the person who name drops people right and left.” Billie told him and Tom was even more intrigued than before. It must’ve been someone super famous then. Maybe it was Brad Pitt.

“You name dropped Matthew McConaughey.” Tom reminded her but Billie didn’t seem offended.

“But that’s Matthew McConaughey. That’s different.” Billie told him as if it were some kind of rule to name drop Matthew McConaughey if you worked with him. Tom just really wanted to know who it was at this point.

“Come on…tell me. I’m dying to know who it is now.” Tom said, pleading with her. Billie stared at him, feeling a bit suspicious, as she took a good look at his big brown eyes. She didn’t know boys could have pretty eyes. Well, Chris Hemsworth had really pretty eyes but that was different.

Ew.

Billie was actually disgusted with herself. She was supposed to only try and be friends with this guy. She wasn’t supposed to fawn over his warm brown eyes.

“Fine.” Billie finally relented, not wanting to see that stupid look on his face anymore. “It was Adam Levine.” Tom’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Adam Levine? As in Maroon 5 Adam Levine?” Tom questioned and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Is there any other Adam Levine?” Billie said sarcastically before she continued. “We did a movie called Begin Again a couple years ago. He apparently hates showtunes even more than me which I didn’t think was possible.”

Tom remembered watching Begin Again not that long ago. It was probably one of the only films Tom had seen Billie in outside of the Marvel ones. It wasn’t that Tom didn’t like her films but she just happened to be in a lot of scary stuff and Tom was terrified of horror films.

“Are you friends with him? Do you text all the time?” Tom asked, not being able to help himself. Billie raised an eyebrow.

“Are you asking me if a thirty six year old man is friends with me?” Billie asked him and Tom blushed.

“Uh…well, when you say it like that it sounds creepy.” Tom said before he remembered something. “Are you not friends with Sebastian as well?” Billie shook her head.

“Sebastian’s different.” Billie said quickly before continuing. “But to answer your question…no, I’m not friends with Adam Levine. I actually haven’t seen him since the premiere of the movie.”

“Was he rude or something?” Tom asked but it was clear he didn’t mean any offense by it. He was just curious.

“Do you mean was he a stereotypical Hollywood asshole? Nope. I guess he was pretty cool.” Billie admitted as she tried to remain nonchalant about the whole thing. She actually wanted to brag about how cool it was that she got to meet Adam Levine and actually talk to him. Billie had tried to get where the name Maroon 5 had come from out of him but he never gave it up. “I mean, he’s a total cliché Rockstar who’s obsessed with supermodels but he is who he is.”

“Well, I-“ Tom started to say but before he could the thing of Billie’s worst nightmare happened. Her fans. A couple who looked to be a few years older than Billie and Tom came up to their table. The excited looks on their faces told Billie everything she needed to know about who they were. Oh god. She should’ve just left her sunglasses on.

“Oh my god!” The woman exclaimed as she walked up to their table. “You’re her! The mean one!”

Tom looked in between Billie and the couple in bewilderment. Billie just wished she was anywhere other than there. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate her fans or anything but they just talked to her like they knew her and it made her uncomfortable. However, Billie knew that was the price of fame. All the money and the fun job she had came with a price and it was stuff like this. Billie just had to tolerate it.

“That would be me.” Billie said in a less than pleased sounding tone but the couple didn’t seem any less happy.

“Can you say something mean to us?” The woman asked and Tom looked at the couple in shock. What? Why would they ask something like that? Billie just sighed because she was used to it from the fucking weirdos she seemed to attract. It made sense that her fans were a bunch of weirdos since she was a weird person herself. Billie couldn’t really blame them.

“Leave me alone.” Billie said rudely, playing along with whatever weird game the couple wanted to play. Tom continued to just watch on, feeling more and more awkward by the second.

“Say something else!” They demanded. Yes, she would say something else because all she was to these people was some kind of dancing monkey. Billie rolled her eyes.

“Leave me the fuck alone.” Billie said as she sneered at them. She kind of meant it deep down. The couple just snickered as they began to walk off.

“Thank you, Viper!” They told her and then they were gone. Thank god. Tom looked back at the blonde, his eyes still wide with shock. He couldn’t believe what he just witnessed.

“Were they serious?” Tom asked her as he watched the couple disappear into a crowd. Billie shrugged as she took another sip from her sweet tea.

“I have no clue.” Billie said nonchalantly. Tom just shook his head in disbelief.

“They were so rude.” Tom remarked but Billie didn’t seem bothered. “Why did they want you to say those things to them? That was so weird.”

“I think it’s because I always play a bitch…or maybe I just have resting bitch face in real life too.” Billie said bluntly but Tom was still overwhelmed by all of this.

“So people do that? They just come up to you and ask you to say weird stuff?” Tom questioned and Billie nodded.

“Sometimes. Sometimes they just want a selfie too or to have something signed.” Billie informed him and Tom swallowed hard before asking her another question.

“And you do what they want?” Tom asked her.

“If it’s within reason.” Billie stated carefully before she further explained her actions. “I look at it this way, Holland…these people paid money to buy tickets to my movies. If they want a selfie or for me to act like a bitch to them then that’s fine by me. It’s a small price to pay for everything else.”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it.” Tom told her.

“I guess.” Billie said, not knowing what else to say.

Luckily, the waitress came by with the check before Billie said anything else. She thanked them both and dropped the check off before going off to tend to another table. Billie didn’t hesitate in taking her wallet out from her purse. Tom looked at her in disbelief.

“That’s okay, Billie. I can pay. You don’t have to.” Tom told her as he started to reach for his own wallet.

“Why would you pay? I thought this wasn’t a date.” Billie said in response and Tom swallowed hard.

“It’s not a date. You just don’t have to pay for my meal.” Tom said, being the gentlemen he was. Well, Billie actually didn’t know if he was a gentlemen or not. She just assumed all British guys were but that probably wasn’t true. Unlike Tom, however, Billie just knew her friend Matty back home would be more than happy for her to pay for his meal. In fact, Matty let her pay for everything because he thought it was hilarious. Billie didn’t know why she had such weird friends.

“Well, I brought you to this place so I should pay.” Billie told him and it was clear to Tom that there was no arguing with her. She then smirked at him as her eyes practically sparkled with mischief.

“Relax, Holland. Let me treat you like a lady.” Billie told him and Tom sighed heavily. This girl was impossible. He didn’t understand what went through her head. She was so confusing. Billie gave him an amused look when she heard him mumble something under his breath.

“What was that, Holland?” Billie said as she continued to smirk at him. “Speak up and don’t mumble. I don’t like mumblers.” Tom playfully glared at her.

“I said that you’re not as funny as you think you are.” He told her and Billie just laughed at him.

“I like this bitchy side of you. You should keep it up.” Emma informed him as Tom just shook his head in amusement.

The waitress then came by to pick up Billie’s debit card much to Billie’s amusement and Tom’s disapproval. Billie would’ve just let him pay if he really wanted but bickering with him amused her. It was more fun to argue with him than to just let him pay. Billie didn’t think she’d like Tom that much since they didn’t have a lot in common but her opinion was slowly changing. She might’ve even thought they could be friends.

Maybe.


	9. Chapter Eight: Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the second part of Billie and Tom's night out, they make a stop at an arcade and discuss their work in more detail.

After Billie and Tom had dinner they decided to stop at a local arcade on the way back to their hotel. It was a vintage sort of arcade with arcade games that looked like they had been there for decades as well as a carousel and an interesting looking fortune teller within the arcade too. The two hadn’t made the move to play any games yet so they just sat at a table near the carousel as they watched children laugh and play. Billie watched in silence as a father picked his child up and placed her on one of the horses on the carousel. The little girl giggled as her father grinned back at her. Billie could feel her heart clench at the sight and she was unable to see anything but the dad and daughter.

“Do you come to this place a lot?” Tom asked her, breaking Billie out of her thoughts. She finally looked over at him before shrugging.

“Sometimes.” Billie said as she swirled her straw around her cherry slushie. Tom had never had a slushie before but he kind of liked the way the slushie made her lips slightly redder than they had been before. “When I want to think and be by myself.” Tom found her answer odd. He didn’t see how anyone could think inside this place. It was loud and filled with hyperactive children.

“It’s a cool place.” Tom said, not knowing what else to say. Billie realized then that they probably didn’t look much like movie stars in that moment. To other people they must’ve just looked like a couple of teenagers out on a date or something similar. 

“So are you working on anything at the moment?” Billie asked him, changing the subject. She didn’t really want to talk about why she came to this place on a weekly basis. Sometimes it was just a bit suffocating being around all those people. Don’t get her wrong. She loved the other actors she worked with, even Robert who she pretended to hate, but sometimes they were so Hollywood and Billie felt like an outsider...like she didn’t belong. Most of them had attended really fancy acting schools or they were from acting families. They were also a lot older than her so Billie felt pretty stupid and ridiculous next to them. It was nice to get away from everyone for a while and not constantly worry about what the others might think of her. 

Billie wasn’t stupid. She knew she probably only got parts because she was pretty. There were some actresses like Scarlett and Elizabeth who were both beautiful and talented. However, Billie didn’t think she was talented like they were. Mad Men or not.

Scarlett was this former child actress who went to one of those really nice performing arts schools in New York. Lizzie came from an acting family, her twin sisters ridiculously famous, while also having studied acting seriously. Billie’s mom just sent her to a nearly closed down children’s theater because she was having behavioral problems. Her mom thought it would be therapeutic for her. Other than that, Billie had no prior acting experience. Not like the others, at least.

“Nothing at the moment. Just this.” Tom told her. “I just finished filming this drama period piece called The Pilgrimage.” 

“Really?” Billie said, sounding interested and Tom blushed.

“I doubt you’d like it. It’s probably really boring.” Tom said shyly and Billie raised an eyebrow. 

“How would you know what I like or don’t like?” Billie questioned and Tom’s eyes widened as he worried whether or not he offended her. It looked like he put his foot in his mouth yet again. He furiously shook his head.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I-” He only stopped when he noticed the teasing smile on Billie’s face. He immediately calmed down, relief washing over him. “Oh...you were just kidding.”

“Don’t get so wound up, Holland.” Billie told him before going back to the subject of his movie. “Tell me more about this movie.” Tom just nodded as he cleared his throat before explaining the concept of the film to her.

“It takes place during medieval Ireland where this group of monks are given the task of transporting this religious relic to Rome.” Tom explained to her and Billie nodded as she took this information in. “Richard Armitage and Jon Bernthal are also in it.”

“Jon Bernthal? Isn’t he the guy who played Shane on the Walking Dead?” Billie inquired and Tom nodded, only a little too eager to give out information.

“He’s also going to be the Punisher. We were actually rehearsing lines with each other while we were filming since we were both in the process of auditioning. I know the Netflix universe and the MCU are a bit separate but-” Tom said as he rambled on about him and Jon Bernthal but Billie had to stop him.

“Wait a minute. Since when did the role of the Punisher get cast? I thought they were still auditioning guys for that role?” Billie asked him with a confused look on her face. Tom’s eyes widened in surprise as he blushed.

“Oh, I forgot. I wasn’t supposed to talk about it.” Tom told her, looking very embarrassed. Billie just had an amused look on her face as she looked back at him. “Could you please not tell anyone I told you that? I wasn’t supposed to say anything. It just...well, it just slipped out.” Billie just shook her head in amusement.

“You’re going to be a lot of trouble, aren’t you, Holland?” Billie said as she smirked at him. This time it was Tom’s turn to look confused.

“What do you mean?” 

“Marvel’s going to have their hands full with you. You’ve only been here for a week and a half and you’re already spilling Marvel secrets.” Billie said teasingly. “Careful, Holland. You don’t want to end up on Marvel’s watchlist like Ruffalo.”

“Marvel’s watchlist?” He asked in confusion. Billie nodded.

“Marvel hates spoilers. You’ll find that out very quickly around these parts.” Billie told him, the smirk still very present on her face. “Although...it looks like Ruffalo might already have a partner in crime.” 

“And what about you?” Tom asked her as he crossed his arms. “Do you spoil anything?” Billie shook her head, looking incredibly smug but Tom wasn’t annoyed by the smug look on her face. He was actually quite possibly charmed.

“No because I actually know how to keep my trap shut unlike you and Ruffalo.” Billie told him and Tom laughed, playfully rolling his eyes.

“Very funny.” Tom told her sarcastically and Billie was just surprised she hadn’t pushed him away yet like she pushed away all the other actors. She knew she could be a bit much. Paul Bettany thought she was a weirdo and even Emily VanCamp was a little creeped out by her. However, Tom was surprisingly very relaxed by her oddness.

“And who do you play in the movie anyways?” She asked him as she changed the subject. 

“One of the monks.” Tom told her and Billie hadn’t really expected that. Maybe because she couldn’t picture him as a monk. He seemed a little too goofy and cute to play a monk. “Yeah, it’s definitely one of the weirdest roles I’ve had. What about you?”

“What?” She questioned.

“What’s the weirdest role you’ve ever had?” He asked her curiously and Billie smiled in amusement at him. She never really got that question. Mostly people just asked her what the hardest role she ever had to play was. Not the weirdest one. 

“I mean, I play some pretty weird people. The Viper Assassin’s pretty fucking weird. She’s basically a child soldier whose also the granddaughter of Captain America and Peggy Carter but the surrogate daughter of the Winter Soldier at the same time.” Billie told him honestly. “Not to mention she can fly and kill people and shit.” Tom laughed.

“No, I mean outside the MCU. What’s the weirdest role?” He asked her again and Billie sighed as she considered his question. It was kind of a hard question to answer. Her career wasn’t long by any means but there had been a lot of weird characters she had to play. It was seldom that she had ever played a normal character. 

“Okay...Hadley Conners on American Horror Story: Coven. She was a witch who could see into the future. That’s weird.” Billie told Tom who raised his eyebrows in response before shaking his head.

“That doesn’t count. She just has weird powers. Was she also a weird person too?” Tom inquired since he hadn’t seen the show so he wouldn’t know either. Billie just smirked at him.

“Well, she liked looking into the future so she could find ways to alter it and cause death and harm to people so yes...I would say that she’s a weird person too.” Billie said darkly but also teasingly. Tom was reminded once again why he didn’t like to watch horror films or shows. That was the creepiest plot he had ever heard.

“How do you do it?” Tom asked her and Billie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

“Do what?” She asked him. Tom swallowed hard before elaborating.

“How do you star in all those horror films and tv shows?” Tom asked her curiously. “I haven’t seen a lot of your work because I don’t like to watch those kinds of things. I don’t mean any offense but I’m deeply terrified of horror films.” He expected Billie to be offended that he hadn’t watched a lot of her work but she didn’t look offended in the least. She actually seemed very calm. 

“It’s easier to star in them than to watch them. For me it doesn’t matter either way. I love horror films. I’m a huge fan of them.” Billie told him truthfully but Tom still didn’t get it.

“But why do you like them?” He asked her, wanting to understand her better. Billie sighed before answering.

“I don’t really know. I’m just fascinated by them, I guess. The death and violence...stuff like that.” Billie told him honestly but noticed the weirded out look on his face. “It’s morbid curiosity. People are fascinated by death just like they’re fascinated by love. I love horror films for the same reason people love watching rom-coms or those sappy ass Nicholas Sparks movies.”

“I still don’t get it.” Tom said to her and Billie sighed heavily before going into an in depth explanation although she didn't mind giving a big explanation because she liked discussing genres of films with people. Most people thought she was some airheaded actress with a pretty face but Billie genuinely loved having intelligent conversations about films with people. It was just that most people didn't take her up on that because they thought she was so young.

“So you know how a bunch of sappy morons cried while watching The Fault in Our Stars, right?” Billie asked him, seemingly at random, and Tom gave her a weird look.

“Uh...I guess.” He said awkwardly.

“Well, I saw the movie with my friends and I had no reaction whosoever. All my friends were a blubbering mess but I felt nothing. I didn’t even get misty eyed.” Billie told him bluntly. “Does that make me a sociopath? Who knows. Anyways...my point is that I’m not a crier. I rarely cry while watching movies. I think The Elephant Man was the only film that ever made me cry.”

“And your point is?” Tom asked her despite taking note of the fact that The Elephant Man, of all films, had made her cry. Granted it was a very sad film but it wasn’t a tragic love story like The Fault in Our Stars or The Notebook. It told Tom that Billie might’ve been an even more deeply intricate person than he previously thought. 

“My point is that horror films are some of the only kinds of films that can make you feel something no matter what kind of person you are. Everyone’s afraid of something and horror films pander to that feeling of fear.” Billie said intelligently and Tom had to admit he hadn’t thought of it that way before. “You know, you could probably be in a horror film.” Tom widened his eyes in surprise at her odd statement before he shook his head and chuckled.

“I doubt that.” Tom told her honestly. “There’s no way I could ever do what you do. All those horror films and creepy little ghosts hanging around...no. Not at all.” Billie laughed but rolled her eyes at him.

“Yes, you could. Being in a horror film or show isn’t like watching one.” Billie informed him. “I mean, I rarely get scared anymore watching horror films but one of my co-stars on American Horror Story, Sarah Paulson, is afraid of everything. She’s insanely terrified of scary movies.”

“Really?” Tom asked curiously and Billie nodded.

“Yes but it’s different when you’re working on the show. You know what’s going to happen and you also know that none of it’s real. Besides...there’s tons of people on set so you never feel alone.” Billie said as she tried to talk Tom into the possibility of doing a horror film someday. “It’s not scary at all. I was actually disappointed when I filmed the third season of American Horror Story because I couldn’t believe how not scared I was by everything.”

“So say I wanted to start watching horror films.” Tom started to say carefully. “Which ones should I start with? Which are some of the least scary?”

Billie didn’t have to take much time to consider this question as she excitedly began to list off her list of horror films. It wasn’t everyday that someone seemed to take an interest in her love of horror films. The others thought it was pretty weird. Robert teased her by calling her Laurie Strode which Billie didn’t get since Laurie Strode was actually a final girl and not this person who was fascinated by horror films like Billie was.

“Some of the least scary are probably the original universal monster movies from old Hollywood.” Billie explained to him and Tom was relieved to finally get the seemingly quiet and reserved Billie Aufderheide to finally talk about something. It was clear to him that these were definitely the films she was passionate about doing. She was the kind of person that didn't seem to care about anything but Tom could tell that she did happen to care about horror films. “Like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. Just some of the classics. A lot of people think they’re kind of corny but I think they have their charm. They’re kind of what jump started the genre too so I have a lot of respect for them.” 

“Those are the films with Bela Lugosi, right?” Tom inquired and Billie nodded.

“Dracula and The Son of Frankenstein.” Billie corrected. “He’s kind of my favorite Dracula. Gary Oldman was a really good Dracula too but Bela Lugosi was my favorite.”

“Sounds cool.” Tom said, interested in the films because Billie was seemingly interested in them. “I might check them out.”

“You should see Scream too. It’s more modern and a slasher film but it’s not that scary. It’s more funny than it is scary.” Billie also thought to mention and Tom nodded.

“I’ve actually heard of Scream but I have yet to see it.” Tom told her and Billie smiled at him.

“Well, you should definitely see it. I think you would like it.” Billie told him and Tom returned her smile before he started to bring up their work. He was a bit nervous to bring this part up to her since Tom felt like it was kind of an awkward topic but he was very curious about her take on this topic in particular. 

“So um...Marvel’s been having me read all the comics. You know...for research.” Tom started to say awkwardly as Billie watched him with a curious look on her face. “I’ve actually learned a lot of interesting things about Peter Parker. Things I didn’t know before from watching the films with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.” Billie nodded in understanding.

“Yeah. They made me do research when I got cast too. The Viper Assassin had a pretty shady past with being a villain and all. Too bad she’s a good guy in these movies, right?” Billie told him nonchalantly and Tom just nodded as he tried not to be too weirded out by that statement. It was probably just Billie being Billie.

“Well, I was talking about something else that might transfer from the comicbook to the film someday.” Tom started to say but Billie still didn’t understand what he was saying. “In the Tobey Maguire movies, for example, Mary Jane Watson was Spider-Man’s love interest.” Billie scoffed.

“And how annoying, was she?” Billie muttered and Tom looked up at her in surprise.

“What?” Tom questioned and Billie just took a sip of her slushie before answering.

“Come on, Holland. You have to admit Mary Jane Watson was pretty lame as far as women in superhero movies go.” Billie said bluntly but honestly at the same time. “She was always falling off buildings and shit. Mary Jane always needed to be saved. Classic damsel in distress. Besides...she was an actress so you know she was a total airhead.” Tom gave her an amused look.

“You’re an actress.” Tom pointed out.

“Yeah, I know.” Billie said as if it were obvious. Tom just shook his head before he continued in trying to bring up something that had been bothering him a little.

“What about Gwen Stacy in the Andrew Garfield films?” Tom inquired curiously. Billie shrugged.

“I actually really like Emma Stone. Gwen Stacy was really intelligent and practical so she never bothered me.” Billie told him truthfully. “There’s just not a ton of love interests in Marvel films so far that I’ve liked. Pepper Potts is okay but Peggy Carter’s the only one who I really loved. She’s probably the most empowered of all the love interests.”

“I really like Peggy too. It’s kind of cool how she’s your character’s grandmother. Emma’s quite the legacy.” Tom mentioned and Billie nodded.

“I just wish there was more female empowerment in the MCU.” Billie said with a hopeful look on her face. “I mean, it’s getting better. Scarlett used to be the only female Avenger but now we’ve got Lizzie and…” 

“You.” Tom finished and Billie gave him a small smile before nodding. 

“Yeah. I mean everything’s moving slowly but we’re progressing.” Of course, Billie didn’t mention the fact that she was kind of annoyed by Marvel’s decision to launch a Spider-Man franchise when they had yet to officially start making a stand alone movie about a female hero. It wasn’t personal and Billie knew it wasn’t Tom's fault but she just wished there was more movies about empowered women. 

There was rumors of a Wonder Woman movie on the rise with DC as well as rumors around Marvel about a Captain Marvel potentially happening. Big movie companies were only beginning to realize that movies about empowered women could be profitable. It was something they were finally realizing after Mad Max: Fury Road came out but it just surprised Billie that it took them that long to realize something like that. 

“Well, as I was saying...I’ve been doing my research and it seems like Peter has a different love interest for every film franchise.” Tom started to say carefully and Billie nodded.

“You’re telling me. That guy sure got around for a little nerd.” Billie said much to Tom’s astonishment. He kept finding himself surprised by the way she talked. She was so unabashedly blunt, unafraid of somehow offending someone. Tom couldn’t tell if this was a good or bad trait yet. “He practically slept with the entire Marvel universe.”

“Right, well…” Tom said awkwardly as he finally brought up the dilemma he had been thinking about for the past couple days. “I noticed that Emma and Peter were kind of a thing too in the comics.”

“Oh, are you talking about their no strings attached relationship? How she was cheating on Loki with him behind the moron’s back?” Billie questioned teasingly, causing Tom to blush. “It sounded like some kind of soap opera like Vampire Diaries.”

“I don’t know if they had a no strings attached relationship.” Tom said nervously but Billie gave him a doubtful look.

“What would you call having casual hate sex with your enemy?” Billie quipped and Tom decided to ignore that last comment.

“Right...well, their relationship eventually formed into a romantic one. They were an actual couple in the comics.” Tom told Billie like she didn’t already know all of this. “They got married and had kids.”

“Personally, I liked her better with Loki. Spider-Man made her into this boring superhero that saved people.” Billie said in a bored tone and Tom raised his eyebrows. Was she seriously saying she shipped Emma and Loki together right in front of him? In front of the guy who was actually playing Spider-Man?

“And that’s a bad thing?” Tom questioned and Billie nodded.

“Yes. Emma was more interesting and fun when she was a bad guy.” Billie told him and Tom only shook his head in amusement before he decided to bring something else up to her.

“Well, anyways, my whole point in bringing this up was to see if you might know anything about a storyline like that coming to light in the films.” Tom said very carefully and Billie just raised an eyebrow.

“I’m fairly certain there won’t be a casual sexual relationship since that was a more mature storyline in Marvel’s Spider-Man and Viper Assassin arc.” Billie told Tom truthfully. “They’re also only going to be fifteen in the movies so that wouldn’t exactly look good. They were older in the comics, after all.”

“But what about any romance in general?” Tom asked her and Billie could tell how embarrassed he was getting because he was blushing a lot. 

“Why? Are you excited, Holland?” Billie said teasingly and Tom chose to ignore her teasing comment this time because there was more important questions on his mind.

“I don’t know. I’ve just been a little curious since they were a big couple in the comics and I also just find it curious that Kevin, Joe, and Anthony made it clear that I had to do a chemistry test with you.” Tom told her as he tried to determine what was going to happen to their characters in the movies. 

“I mean, Joe has talked to me about it.” Billie finally admitted. “Nothing too much but he kind of hinted at it to me.”

“Hinted?” Tom questioned and Billie nodded.

“He kind of danced around the subject of romance but he mentioned that there definitely won't be anything going on in this movie.” Billie told him and Tom raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“In this movie? Does that mean you might be in the new Spider-Man film?” Tom asked her, a little excited at the prospect of working with Billie again after Civil War. 

“I don’t know. He was very vague but I’m assuming that it’s definitely a yes. That little nerd got so excited that he could barely contain himself.” Billie quipped. “I thought he was going to piss himself with excitement.”

“Well, that’s kind of cool.” He told her, honestly overjoyed at the idea of a more romantic storyline between Peter Parker and Emma Rogers. Besides...Tom wasn’t blind. Billie was a very beautiful actress so of course he wouldn’t mind sharing any romantic scenes with her. “Emma’s a badass character so I think her and Peter would make for an interesting couple.”

“I guess.” She said, not sounding as thrilled by this pairing. “I still like her and Loki together more.” Tom rolled his eyes.

“You’re just saying that because of Tom Hiddleston. All the girls love Tom Hiddleston.” Tom said, feigning annoyance but it was clear he was just teasing her. Billie glared at him playfully.

“I actually want Emma and Loki together because I feel like they would drive the Avengers insane. Not because of Tom Hiddleston’s looks I’ll have you know.” Billie said defensively. “Besides...Hiddleston isn’t my type.”

“Why not?” Tom asked curiously and he was also a bit curious to know just who the actress’s type was. Billie shrugged.

“He’s just way too good looking. Not to mention fragile and delicate.” Billie told him honestly and Tom looked at her in disbelief.

“How can someone be too good looking?” Tom questioned and Billie just smirked at him.

“I don’t like pretty boys, Holland. I like men.” Billie said bluntly and Tom just stared at her in wonder. He didn’t even know what that meant. “And you can’t find men in Hollywood. The days of Kurt Russell seem to be long over. I mean, maybe Bradley Cooper and Chris Pratt could be thrown into that bunch but it’s a huge “maybe”.”

“I can’t tell if that’s sexist or not.” Tom determined and Billie shrugged once more, uncaring of what he thought of her.

“It’s not sexist. It’s just a preference.” Billie said nonchalantly and Tom just shook his head at her.

“And what about me? Could I be included with Bradley Cooper and Chris Pratt?” Tom asked her boldly despite himself. He didn’t know what he expected her to say or do. Maybe he expected her to blush but that was silly. Nothing seemed to embarrass this girl. 

“Not at all. You’re much too delicate looking for that, Holland.” Billie said teasingly, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Tom couldn’t decide if she was flirting with him or not. If she was any other girl then he would’ve assumed that she was flirting but he just couldn’t tell with Billie. She was an entirely confusing person. “Another pretty face just like your British counterparts Hiddleston and Cumberbatch.”

“Thanks a lot.” Tom muttered although he was thoroughly amused by the blonde’s antics. His eyes then landed on the slushie in her hands as he decided to change the subject from the one they were currently on. He was sure that if they spent anymore time discussing this subject then he was bound to get even more embarrassed than he currently was.

“What exactly is a slushie anyways?” Tom asked her as he eyed the red colored drink in her hand. The same drink that was tinting her lips an enchanting looking cherry red color. 

“What? They don’t have slushies in England?” Billie questioned and Tom shrugged.

“They might. I’ve just never had one.” Tom answered and Billie shook her head in disapproval.

“That’s what you get when you let an old lady and a baby be your ruling monarch. You get a country free of slushies.” Billie said which Tom would’ve taken as an insult if he wasn’t slowly getting used to the way she talked. Billie also would be lying if she said she hadn’t somewhat stolen that line from Ron Swanson on Parks and Rec. 

“Very funny.” Tom told her as he playfully glared at the blonde. Billie was about to make another sarcastic remark when she changed her mind and decided to be nice like Chris suggested. She would never admit to actually listening to that dork but Billie figured that maybe he had a point. This kid was already having a hard enough time fitting into this world without her constant teasing. She was also starting to get the feeling that Anthony and Seb were going to give him a hard time so why add more fuel to the fire with her less than pleasant attitude? 

“Do you wanna try it?” Billie offered and Tom looked at her in surprise.

“Really?” He questioned and she nodded as she pushed the drink over to him across the table.

“Sure.” Billie told him but she noticed he seemed a bit hesitant so she rolled her eyes. “Relax. It’s not like I have mono or anything.”

“That’s not what I-” Tom started to say but she interrupted him.

“We’re probably going to have to exchange saliva at one point for this movie franchise. You better get used to it, Holland.” Billie told him bluntly which only caused Tom to blush as he tried not to let himself think too much about that. Now wasn’t the time. Instead he slowly took the slushie away from her and gave it a taste, wincing a bit at the sweet and somewhat tart taste of the drink.

“That’s really sweet.” Tom said as he immediately pushed the drink back over to her. “What’s in it, anyways?”

“Cherry syrup and crushed ice.” Billie informed him and Tom nodded.

“That sounds really healthy.” He said sarcastically and Billie just shrugged.

“Life’s short.” She retorted and Tom just shook his head at her as he chuckled in amusement. His attention was then taken away by all the arcade games they had yet to play. What else were they supposed to do in an arcade? Tom didn’t just want to sit there the whole entire night even though Billie was interesting to talk to. 

“What arcade game would you recommend?” Tom asked and Billie shot him a confused look.

“What?”

“What arcade game do you normally play when you come to this place?” He asked her again and Billie just shook her head.

“I don’t know. I don’t play any games.” Billie said truthfully and Tom looked at her in bewilderment.

“You mean to say that you just come to this arcade to sit and watch other people play? That's all you do?" Tom questioned incredulously. Billie just stared back at him blankly.

“One time this twelve year old idiot fell off the carousel. They had to call the ambulance. That was kind of funny.” Billie retorted and Tom just stared at her. He had spent the past couple hours talking to her yet he still was no closer in figuring her out. Tom didn’t know if she was a sociopath or if it was all just an act. The two categories were hard to distinguish from each other.

“Well, let’s actually play one of the arcade games this time. You know...have fun like normal teenagers.” Tom told her because he didn’t think you were too old to have fun in an arcade. “It’s better than just sitting around and staring at each other all night.”

“Says you.” Billie quipped and Tom got up from his seat before offering a hand to Billie. She cautiously eyed his hand before putting away any hesitation and took it, allowing him to help her up. Billie raised an eyebrow as she stared at their interlocked hands, noticing that, unlike most guys, his hands were very soft and almost dainty. It was kind of cute, actually. 

“I don’t like your hand. It’s very clammy.” She told him abruptly and Tom blushed once more as he quickly let go of her hand.

“Sorry.” He mumbled before he started leading the way to the array of arcade games that Billie had never even thought of playing. The last time she had played an arcade game was probably at Peter Piper’s for a friend’s birthday party. She walked behind him, observing the adorable way in which he looked over every single arcade game as he tried to decide which one he wanted to play. Billie suddenly wondered if he had done the same thing as a child. If the same look of wonder and excitement filled his face at something so simple and childish as an arcade game. 

Billie knew then that she found him to be attractive, just as she found many actors to be attractive, but she also knew that he wasn’t for her. He was too nice and fragile. She didn’t know him well but she could tell that much about him. No, Tom Holland was definitely not her type. Billie was almost positive about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Billie's Filmography(Up until this point in the story)  
> (2007-2015) Mad Men as Sally Draper(63 Episodes)  
> (2009) 500 Days of Summer as Rachel  
> (2009) Zombieland as Little Rock  
> (2010) Let Me In as Eli  
> (2011) Mud as May Pearl  
> (2011) Bridesmaids as Girl in jewelry store  
> (2012) New Girl as Sarah Shiller(One Episode)  
> (2012) Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 as herself  
> (2012) Moonrise Kingdom as Susy Bishop  
> (2013) The Way Way Back as Susanna  
> (2013) The Purge as Zoey Sandin  
> (2013) American Horror Story: Coven as Hadley Conners(Thirteen Episodes)  
> (2014) Captain America: The Winter Soldier as Emma Rogers/The Viper Assassin  
> (2014) Begin Again as Violet  
> (2014) The Equalizer as Alina/Teri  
> (2014) Big Eyes as Jane Ulbrich  
> (2015) The Library as Caitlin Gabriel(Off-Broadway Play)  
> (2015) The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt as Kymmi(One Episode)  
> (2015) Avengers: Age of Ultron as Emma Rogers/The Viper Assassin  
> (2016) The Mindy Project as herself(One Episode)  
> (2016) Captain America: Civil War as Emma Rogers/The Viper Assassin  
> (2016) Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising as Shelby  
> (2016) The Witch as Thomasin


	10. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie takes another glimpse into her past as she seeks to understand why she can't just let some parts of her past go. She also reveals the real reason why she keeps her distance from Robert.

Lindale, Texas  
2005

An old country western song, probably Alan Jackson or Garth Brooks, filled the honky tonk bar although no one was really around to dance to it. It was still early in the evening and the bar had only just opened for the night. The bar was the only one in town and had been for the past few decades. It was a beloved treasure of Lindale since it was the only place anyone could blow off any steam. Unless you counted the diner down the road but the diner was more for the teenagers to hang out at. More importantly, the diner didn’t serve alcohol which was why Ethan McCallister was at the bar rather than the diner.

“Another shot of whiskey, Ethan?” Clark, a gruff looking man, said as he gave Ethan a questioning look. Ethan just nodded as he sat on one of the barstools at the bar. The twenty six year old man had a haggard appearance as he stared down at the glass on the tabletop of the bar.

“Yeah, sure.” Ethan told Clark and the older man only nodded as he poured Ethan another drink. He slid the glass over to the tired looking man before casting a worried look in the direction of the seven year old sitting beside Ethan at the bar. The little girl with blonde pigtails drew a picture on the back of one of the old bar menus. She hummed as she colored, oblivious to the fact that she was in a bar which was no place for a child. 

“Daddy, look it’s a pony.” Billie McCallister told her father excitedly as she showed him her drawing. A tired smile came across his face as he observed the drawing his daughter had made. 

“That’s great, darlin’.” He told her and Billie beamed at him before she resumed drawing her picture.

“It’s just like the pony we saw at the fair. Remember?” Billie told him and he nodded, somewhat distracted, as he then focused on his drink. He raised the glass of whiskey to his lips before downing the drink. If you looked around the area around both Ethan and Billie then you would notice that there was many empty glasses of whiskey.

“Hey, McCallister.” Another man in the bar called out. Ethan turned around to look at the man in question.

Buford Cartwright Jr.

The son of the mayor.

Buford was a tall but lanky man with a scruffy beard that had specks of red in it if he stood in the sunlight just right. He and Ethan went to school together since they were children, classic childhood rivals, so they were very familiar with one and other. While Buford had once been the good looking quarterback, Lindale’s golden boy, his good looks had since faded. A beer belly could be seen, probably from spending many nights at this very same bar, and all the Marlboro Reds he had smoked in his lifetime had tinted his teeth a repulsive yellow. However, Ethan had maintained his boyish good looks from high school with his dirty blonde hair, mesmerizing blue eyes with hints of green in them, and his charming smile. Back then Billie liked to say that her father had the smile of prince charming but when she was older she’d grumble about her father having the smile of a sleazy car salesman. 

“Hey, Fordy.” Ethan said in response. It was clear that the two men didn’t like each other but they didn’t say as much as they greeted each other. 

“Haven’t seen you in a while, McCallister.” Buford said in a snide tone as two of his goons stood on either side of him. Buford Cartwright was the poster boy for rednecks everywhere. Older Billie never liked that term "redneck" since she didn’t like that people associated it with everyone in the south. Not everyone in the south was a redneck. This was common knowledge. However, Buford Cartwright definitely was a redneck if there ever was one.

“I’ve been here and there.” Ethan drawled in his thick East Texan accent which was just as thick as Buford’s. 

“Well, we’ve missed you around the ranch. Just the other day me and the boys were shooting a bunch of those damn rattlers on dad’s property.” Buford told him. “Those damn bastards made dad’s ranch a nesting ground. Anyways...I always remembered how good of a shot you were. Too bad you weren’t there.” Ethan shrugged.

“I haven’t really been to the shooting range in a while. Not since dad died. I’m probably a little rusty.” Ethan told him honestly. Buford didn’t look entirely convinced.

“I’m sure you still got it, McCallister.” Buford said reassuringly before a more devious look came across his face. It hadn’t escaped Buford’s notice how intoxicated Ethan was. The array of empty whiskey glasses in front of him said as much. An idea soon formed in the man’s head. “In fact, I’m even sure if we had the Texan Hold Em’ Fold Em’ contest you might even win.” Ethan gave his high school rival/friend a doubtful look.

“I somehow doubt it, Fordy. Like I said before, it’s been a long time.” Ethan reminded him and Buford just shrugged nonchalantly. 

“Well, the Ethan I know would never back down from a challenge.” Buford told him and Ethan raised an eyebrow.

“I didn’t realize you were challenging me to a contest.” Ethan replied and Buford just grinned at him.

“What else is there to do in this one horse town, McCallister?” Buford told him and Ethan stared at him long and hard for a moment as he considered Buford’s challenge. Most men wouldn’t even consider the childish and ridiculous challenge but this was the same man that had brought his seven year old daughter to a bar, after all. Ethan seemed to decide against this challenge a moment later as he shook his head.

“I better not, Fordy. I’ve got my kid with me.” Ethan told him as he rejected the challenge. Buford cast a look in Billie’s direction, noticing the seven year old for the first time. The little girl looked up at the man with a look of immense dislike.

“You’ve sure grown a lot, Billie.” The man said as he smiled down at her. “You’re looking to be just as beautiful as your mama. I really hope you don’t look like your daddy for your own sake.” Billie frowned as she looked back up at the man.

“You smell like booze and stale cigarettes.” Billie told him, much too bluntly for a girl her own age. Buford looked at the seven year old for a moment, entirely dumbfounded. Ethan didn’t scold Billie for her rudeness because it was rare that he ever scolded her for anything. He was never much for discipline. Especially after having the childhood he had. No, Sarah was always the disciplinarian in their family.

“Well, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, little girl? With a daddy like yours, I mean.” Buford finally told her with a smile that Billie didn’t quite like. Ethan didn’t seem to hear Buford’s insult as he tossed back another shot of whiskey. Buford then turned back to look at Ethan. “Come on, Ethan, you don’t want your kid to think you’re some kind of chicken shit, do you?”

“Fordy…” Ethan said, sounding annoyed with the man at this point. All Ethan wanted to do was drink in peace. 

“The Ethan McCallister I know wasn’t one to back down from a challenge.” Buford said challengingly which caused Ethan to pause. One of Ethan McCallister’s greatest weaknesses was his pride. He didn’t like a blow to his ego which was what caused him to lose all rationality...if he even had it in the first place. “You don’t want to look like a pussy in front of your kid, man.”

“I’m not a pussy.” Ethan said, sounding pissed at Buford’s suggestion. Buford just smirked because he knew Ethan was taking the bait.

“Well, prove it then.” Buford told him. “I challenge you to a Texas Hold Em’ Fold Em’ contest. Just like in high school. I’ll put a hundred dollar bet down.” Ethan stared long and hard at Buford but his mind was already made up. He didn’t take kindly to being called a pussy.

“I’ll make you the same bet.” Ethan told Buford even though he knew he really couldn’t afford to place a hundred dollar bet. Sarah would be pissed if he lost the money. However, he might end up with a hundred extra dollars which wasn’t too bad of a deal. 

“You have yourself a deal, Fordy.” Ethan told Buford and the mayor’s son smiled in delight, happy with the fact that he was going to get his way.

“Let’s take this out to the parking lot.” Buford said before he looked back at his goons. “Right, boys?” The two men nodded in agreement as they then began to make their way out of the bar, following Buford’s lead. Ethan quickly downed another shot of whiskey before slamming the glass back down on the surface. 

“Put it on my tab, Clark.” Ethan told the bartender who had a look of disapproval on his face but didn’t say anything. Ethan then looked at his daughter as if suddenly remembering that she was there. “Come on, Billie, we’re heading out back.” The seven year old didn’t question her father, being his loyal follower as usual. She then slid the picture she had been drawing over to Clark, giving the older man a toothy smile.

“This is for you, Clark.” Billie told him and the look of disapproval fell off his face at the sight of the smiling little girl. He smiled back at her.

“I’ll hang this up.” He told her cheerfully. “You sign it...for when you’re a famous baseball player and I can tell everyone that the famous Billie McCallister drew a picture just for me.” Billie only giggled as she quickly scribbled down her name next to the crayoned doddle of the pony she drew.

“There. I signed it.” Billie told him and Clark just smiled sweetly at her before taking the picture from her. Before Billie could say anything more to Clark, her father started to get down from the barstool. She watched with curious eyes as he stumbled a bit once his feet touched the ground, not understanding why her father was having difficulty with regaining his balance. Ethan picked up his cowboy hat from the seat next to him and placed it on his head before walking towards the back entrance of the bar. He didn’t even wait for Billie to follow him. She had to run to keep up with him as he walked outside the bar and down to the parking lot out back. 

“McCallister, I thought you chickened out.” Buford said as he grinned at Ethan. Billie trotted after her father, taking note of Buford’s really expensive Ford truck with headlights currently on so that it would illuminate the otherwise dark parking lot. It wasn’t really a parking lot. Just a bunch of gravel that bikers and other usual bar flies parked their vehicles at if they were going to be out late. 

Billie could even spot her father’s prized 1969 Plymouth Road Runner in the parking lot as well. She imagined it used to be a nice grassy green color with black racing stripes before age got to it. Billie could see the faint spots of rust on it as well as peeled paint around the exterior. Even years later, Billie would still remember the scent of her father’s car and even when she had forgotten the way he smelled, she would remember the way the car smelt. Big League grape flavored chewing gum and nicotine.

“I never chicken out, Fordy.” Ethan told his former high school rival truthfully before glancing down at his daughter who was looking around the parking lot curiously. She was always a curious little thing. A lot like her mother, actually. “Billie, go stand with Tucker and Tanner over there.”

Billie, like always, listened to her father’s command and wordlessly went to stand next to Buford’s two goons. It wasn’t like the men were strangers to her. Everyone knew everyone in town and Billie knew for a fact that their wives were her mother’s friends. Tanner picked Billie off the ground, with ease, and set her down next to them on the bed of Tucker’s truck where they were sitting. 

“I have the targets set up on the fence here.” Buford said as he smiled slyly at Ethan, gesturing to an assortment of beer bottles propped up on top of the wooden fence which overlooked an empty field. “Five rounds and three bottles. We’re allowed to miss twice. Winner gets to keep his money and gets an extra hundred dollars. Loser loses a hundred bucks.”  
“Sounds good to me.” Ethan said as he smirked at Buford, a confident look on his face. “Prepare to lose out on a hundred bucks, dipshit.”

“You wish, asshole.” Buford retorted, keeping a poker face because he knew this was going to be easy. Ethan McCallister was clearly intoxicated. It was a wonder how the man hadn’t passed out yet. “I’ll go first.”

“Go right ahead, Fordy. It won’t make a difference either way.” Ethan told him smugly.

Buford only chuckled as he took out his revolver, positioning himself to take aim at the beer bottles on the fence. He squinted his eyes as he focused on the targets, his finger on the trigger. He waited only a short moment before he took his first shoot at the targets. Billie covered her ears with her hands just like her father instructed her to do the time he shot and killed that rattler that made its home under their front porch. Buford missed his first shot as the bullet missed the beer bottle by a few inches. He cursed as he gritted his teeth, ignoring Ethan’s laughter. He was going to show that drunk asshole. Ethan thought he was the shit just because he won the state championship back in high school and married Sarah Aufderheide. Well, Buford was going to show that trailer park trash dickhead who was the real man here. 

Buford pulled his finger against the trigger a second time. Only this time he was successful as the second bullet hit the first beer bottle, the glass shattering. He smiled in relief before he quickly shot the gun again, immediately hitting the next bottle with that bottle shattering to pieces as well. However, it was only when he shot his fourth shot that he began to lose his mojo. The bullet missed the third and final bottle by an incredible distance before his fifth and last bullet missed the beer bottle too. He groaned in frustration as the last bottle still stood on the fence, completely untouched. 

“God damn!” Buford exclaimed in frustration as he glared at the untouched beer bottle. Ethan chuckled. 

“You always were a piss poor shot, Fordy.” Ethan told him in amusement before casting a glance at Billie as he began to take his hat off again. “Here, Darlin’, hang onto my hat for me.” Billie smiled up at her father as she took his hat from him and placed it on her head, uncaring of how big it was on her.

“You got it, Daddy.” Billie told him loyally and he only winked at her before he walked up to Buford. He clapped the man on the shoulder which only served to annoy the mayor’s son. Buford glared at Ethan. 

“You do it then if you’re such a goddamn pro.” Buford muttered as he practically shoved the revolver into Ethan’s hands. Ethan only raised an eyebrow condescendingly at Buford in response.

“It’d sure be nice if I had some bullets.” He drawled and Buford huffed before angrily reaching into his pockets and pulling out a few bullets. He shoved them into Ethan’s hand before going over to stand next to the bed of the truck Tucker, Tanner, and Billie were currently sitting in. Ethan only smirked as he began to load the bullets into the chamber of the gun.   
“I hope you don’t mind losing out on a hundred bucks, Fordy. Because this is going to be painstakingly easy.” Ethan told Buford confidently. Buford only crossed his arms as he glared at the man. 

“You’ve got this, Daddy!” Billie called out, causing Buford to glare at her. Ethan only cast his number one fan a lopsided smile before returning his attention to the other end of the fence where three more beer bottles were stacked. He took a deep breath as he began to focus his eyes on the targets. Only...it wasn’t as easy as he thought. His intoxicated state prevented him from having clear vision. As his eyes focused on the bottle, his vision only became blurrier. Ethan swallowed hard before he fired his first shot.

By some miracle he seemed to have hit the beer bottle as the glass shattered to pieces. He grinned, growing a little more confident in his aim as he pulled his finger against the trigger again. However, this time the bullet didn’t hit the bottle. He missed by an incredible distance. Ethan only furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he fired off another shot but he missed yet again. It seemed like his vision was only getting blurrier and more unfocused the longer he stood there. Ethan fired off the last two bullets but he didn’t even come close to hitting the other two beer bottles. 

After he used up all his bullets, Ethan stood there in silence as he glared into the distance. Everything seemed hazy and out of focus so he was no closer to figuring out where the hell the bottles were. It was only when Ethan heard laughter behind him that he felt himself come back into reality. Buford Cartwright clapped his hands together as he stood next to Ethan with a smug grin on his face. Billie frowned as she looked at her father. It was unusual for him to miss. He never missed. 

“Looks like you’ve lost your touch, McCallister. Can’t say I’m surprised.” Buford said tauntingly as Ethan reluctantly looked away from the beer bottles to look at the man standing next to him. 

“I-I...it was dark.” Ethan mumbled and Buford looked at him doubtfully.

“This parking lot is more than illuminated. Don’t be making up excuses, McCallister.” Buford told him as he tried laughing off Ethan’s sore loser nature. 

“I thought you were great, Daddy.” Billie tried to tell her father supportively but the two men were locked into a very serious conversation. A certain amount of tension filled the air as the two men stared at each other. Two former golden boys of Lindale High. 

“You cheated, Cartwright, and you damn well know it!” Ethan argued, all previous niceties gone. The grin had since fallen off Buford’s face.

“I didn’t cheat. I won fair and square. McCallister. Everyone here would attest to that. Even Billie.” Buford told him seriously. “Now do the right thing and pay up. I believe you owe me a hundred bucks.”

“I’m not paying you a fucking thing, asshole. Not when you cheated.” Ethan said defensively. Buford glared at him. 

“I thought you were a man of your word.” Buford told him, growing angrier and angrier by the moment. 

“I am a man of my word, Cartwright.” Ethan told him. “But not when you pull one over me like that. You’re a real fucking swindler, you know that, right?”

“I’m not a swindler. I think we're all more than aware of who the swindler is around these parts and it's certainly not me.” And it was clear Buford was pissed off at this point. He sneered at the taller man, his body practically heaving with anger. “It’s not my fault if you’re a drunk, McCallister. Don’t put that on me. Now you lost the bet so do the honorable thing by paying up. Be a man.”

“I’m not paying you a goddamn cent.” Ethan snapped and Buford’s body tensed as he took a step forward. It was clear that things were serious now. Both men were pissed. Ethan was not only angry but he was drunk and humiliated as well. That was a bad combination. Billie looked at her father in concern. Even a seven year old could sense that things were getting bad.

“You’ll pay me or else, MCallister.” Buford told him and Ethan just spat at him, a condescending smile on his face. The other man stepped back in disgust before a furious look came across his face at the nerve of the man. 

“You can take this revolver and shove it up your ass, Cartwright.” Ethan told him and Buford’s nostrils flared with anger.

“I’m not going to be any more lenient with you. Give me the fucking money.” Buford hissed and Ethan just smirked before he took the revolver, still in his hands, and chucked it out into the field behind the bar. 

“Why don’t you go get your revolver and trick some other poor bastard into a scam?” Ethan said sarcastically but this time his remark was met with a punch to the face.

The force of Buford’s punch sent Ethan stumbling back as he grunted from the stinging pain across his face. The punch only seemed to piss Ethan off more in his drunken state as he then staggered towards the other man. He managed to land a half ass punch to Buford’s face but his movements were too slow as he was unable to react in a fast enough amount of time when Buford hit him once more.

“You were always such a fucking bum, McCallister!” Buford told him angrily as he stalked towards the man who was currently spitting out blood. Ethan didn’t have any time to collect himself before Buford punched him yet again, sending Ethan stumbling towards the ground.

“Daddy!” Billie cried as she stared in fright at the sight of her injured and beaten up father. Tanner immediately wrapped his arms around the girl, prohibiting her from moving. She squirmed in his arms as the tears began to pool in her eyes.

“It’s okay, Billie.” Tanner whispered to her as he grinned at Ethan McCallister getting his ass handed to him. Served him right. “Your daddy just has a big mouth so Fordy’s teaching him a little lesson.”

“Make him stop! Make him stop hurting daddy!” Billie yelled but both Tanner and Tucker remained unmoving. 

“Maybe you could learn from this too.” Tanner told her as he smirked at her. “This is what happens when you mouth off.”

“Look at you. Such a mess.” Buford told Ethan as he looked down at him. “How pathetic...in front of your daughter too.”

Buford then gritted his teeth as he kicked Ethan in the stomach, making the tall man grunt from his place on the ground. Billie’s desperate cries and pleads only grew louder as Buford repeatedly kicked Ethan. The man cackled as he continued to beat Ethan to a bloody pulp, a devious grin on his face. His friends watched, impressed by Buford’s power and strength, while Billie could only watch in fear. A part of her, the childish and foolish part, thought her dad was going to die that night in the bar’s parking lot with the scent of gunpowder strong in the air. 

“I’ll be taking that money now.” 

 

Present Day...

“No!” Billie exclaimed as she woke up from her nightmare.

She sat up in her bed, her chest heaving as she looked around the room wildly. Her mind was still fresh from the nightmare/flashback that she forgot where she was for a moment. She forgot that she wasn’t that little seven year old girl that her father took to bars, forcing her to watch him get drunk before making her promise she wouldn’t tell her mother. She forgot that she wasn’t the same little girl who watched her father get into some redneck bar fight out in a parking lot. Billie even forgot that she wasn’t the same girl who watched her father get pushed into the back of a police car, his face bloody and swollen, as he left her alone and scared in the dark. 

It took Billie a minute to realize that this was all just part of a bad memory of the past. She wasn’t seven anymore. She was seventeen and almost an adult. The memory of her deadbeat dad shouldn’t even bother her anymore. Billie didn’t need him. She never had. In fact, he did everyone a favor when he left because she was better off without him. Look at all she had become because of his absence. Billie was currently lying in the most amazing king sized bed in the one of the most expensive hotels in the city. She was a famous actress who made more money than what her bum of a father had seen in his entire life.

Billie got to travel the world and got front row tickets to concerts whenever she wanted. Before Billie’s acting career, she had never even left the state of Texas before and she had never been to a concert either.

A make-up company paid her to wear their make-up and it wasn’t the cheap drug store make-up either. It was the expensive stuff from Ulta Beauty.

Fashion companies begged her to wear their clothes. Really expensive and beautiful clothes that would’ve made five year old Billie feel like a Disney princess and they not only wanted Billie to wear them but they wanted her to keep them too. Clothes that cost thousands upon thousands of dollars and they wanted Billie to have them because she was Billie Aufderheide and that seemed to mean something for whatever reason. 

She wasn’t saying that she had let all the fame and money go to her head while also forgetting where she had come from. Billie would never forget where she came from but she knew that she wouldn’t be where she was if her father was still around. She’d probably still be living in bumfuck nowhere without a hope for a future. Billie certainly wouldn’t be staying in a large and extravagant hotel suite while also spending her day with some of the most talented and famous actors in Hollywood. Nothing ever good came from her father sticking around and sometimes Billie wished that he had left sooner than he did. She wished that he left sooner so that she wouldn’t even be able to remember him. 

“It was just a horrible dream.” Billie told herself as she allowed her breathing to calm down. She was in her hotel suite in Atlanta. She wasn’t anywhere near Lindale in that moment of time. The room was dark as she sat up in her bed so she knew it was still night but Billie knew she wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep that night. 

“He doesn’t even matter.” Billie muttered to herself as she forced herself to get out of bed, refusing to spend anymore time sitting there as she recollected all the bad memories in her life. There was no way she wanted to take a walk down memory lane now of all times. 

“He doesn’t matter because I don’t care.” Billie said to herself as she padded down the hall towards the bathroom to freshen up. A million thoughts circulated through Billie’s head as she walked away from her bed but she forced herself to abandon any thoughts of her father. She did what she normally did whenever she remembered him. Billie tried to erase the impact he had on her life with her cruel and bitter thoughts.

He doesn’t matter because I hate him. He doesn’t matter…

 

 

“Billie, you in there?” Billie heard Sebastian’s voice say from the other side of her hotel suite door. She was currently in the living room area of the suite as she looked between the two scripts that were currently lying on the coffee table in front of her. Billie had spent a majority of her morning staring at the scripts as she slowly became more and more stressed out. She had been stressed out ever since Lily, her personal assistant, dropped off both scripts which were sent to her by her agent Luke.

It probably would’ve been easier for someone to send her PDF files of the scripts but no one wanted to risk getting hacked. Not since the Sony hacking, at least. Billie didn’t think she could really complain anyways. At least, she was allowed to read these scripts in the luxury of her hotel suite. It wasn’t like the scripts from Marvel where she was forced to read the scripts on an iPad in a secure room and under the supervision of the Russo brothers.

“Yeah, I’m here. Just use the keycard I gave you.” Billie called back to him without looking away from the scripts. It was a short moment before she heard the door to her suite open and in came her co-star. He shut the door behind him as he walked into the room.

“I texted you an hour ago but I never got a response.” Sebastian told her as he plopped himself down on the couch next to her like he owned the place or something. It was nothing unusual. Sebastian liked making himself comfortable no matter where they were.

“Hmmm?” Billie mumbled as she continued to look between the scripts in a distracted state.

“I said that you never texted me back.” Sebastian repeated as the aloof expression on his face morphed into one of concern. Billie finally tore her gaze away from the scripts to look at him.

“Sorry. I left my phone in the bedroom.” Billie told him and Sebastian just nodded although he still looked a bit worried. However, he quickly changed the subject because he knew it wasn’t best to call Billie out on her odd behavior. She was kind of unpredictable that way. Sebastian never knew whether or not he was going to upset her. Sometimes she got mad and lashed out if she was pushed or sometimes she just laughed off the concern. Sebastian never knew with her.

“So what are we doing today?” Sebastian asked, referring to the fact that they had the day off. The Russos were shooting a scene with Chris, Lizzie, Anthony, and Scarlett today so the majority of the cast had the day off. Billie shrugged.

“I don’t know.” She said, a typical teenage response. Sebastian took the moment to smirk at her.

“So you and your boyfriend don’t have plans?” Sebastian asked her and Billie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, not understanding what he meant by that. He couldn’t possibly be talking about Tyler, right? Billie hadn’t even bothered telling him or Mackie about Tyler. She knew they’d only tease her if they knew about Tyler even though Tyler technically wasn’t her boyfriend.

“Boyfriend? What boyfriend?” Billie questioned and Sebastian shrugged.

“The one you’ve been ditching the rest of us for.” Sebastian said nonchalantly and Billie realized who he was talking about. She immediately glared at him.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” She grumbled. “We hung out once. Once!” Sebastian just chuckled.

“Relax, Bills. I’m only messing with you.” Sebastian told her and Billie told herself not to let Sebastian piss her off. He was only saying those things to annoy her.

“And I’m not hanging out with Tom today. He’s spending the day at Downey Town where all the lame losers hang out.” Billie told him and Sebastian shook his head in amusement.

“What’s with you and Robert anyways? You’re always giving him a hard time.” Sebastian told him and Billie shifted in discomfort before she shrugged nonchalantly as if the answer was quite simple.

“Someone’s gotta keep Downey down to earth.” Billie answered but that wasn’t why she stayed away from Downey’s large assortment of trailers. It wasn’t even because she thought he was too Hollywood which was always something she made fun of him for.

No...it was something else entirely.

The press tour of Age of Ultron had gone very well...at first. Usually Billie found press tours to be exhausting but the Marvel ones were always fun. Maybe it was just because of the fans of the films were so impassioned or because she got to do different interviews with different actors. Billie had been both anxious and excited when Kevin told her she was being paired off with Downey for the day since Mark Ruffalo hadn’t been feeling well enough to do any interviews.

She had gotten to know Robert a little from when they filmed Age of Ultron although she hadn’t spent that much time with him. He had seemed nice enough from the beginning and even welcoming, sending her fruit baskets and flowers like she imagined most famous actors did to the newbies of the cast.

That was another thing about Robert.

Out of all the other famous actors in Hollywood she had met, Robert was definitely the most Hollywood out of all of them. Some stars just seemed like normal people to Billie but Robert wasn’t one of those stars. He felt like a movie star whenever you talked to him or even just saw him. You never doubted his stardom but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Robert was truthfully a very nice person which Billie never denied about him.

Billie had felt hesitant to be paired off with Robert for the day of interviews but he was very reassuring. He joked around a lot with her and it was the first time she really got to spend time with him without the others. He was unsurprisingly funny and Billie could tell that he was a father with his kind and warm demeanor. Billie thought that she might’ve even liked him a little. He wasn’t that bad.

But then came the interview.

 

It had been a good day of interviews. Everything had been kept light and funny as the interviewers had them play cute and ridiculous games that were typically played at seventh grade sleepovers. In retrospect, it was kind of weird yet hilarious to watch both a middle aged man and a teenage girl participate in such games. There was also some questions about the movie. Some of the interviewers had even remarked about the funny banter between Tony and Emma in the movie.

Everything had been going good but, then during an interview in London, things had gotten a bit too personal and intense for either of their liking. It hit Billie like a brick wall as she was cornered into having to listen to a stranger ask her questions that her mother was even too afraid to ask.

“Where’s your father?” The man asked her in between questioning Robert about his checkered past. His eyes held a certain amount of arrogance that had taken Billie by surprise.

“Excuse me?” Billie questioned, truly shocked by his audacity to not only question Robert but her as well. Never before had anyone ever asked Billie such personal questions. Ellen DeGeneres had once teasingly asked Billie whether or not she was dating anyone but that was as personal as it got. 

“Your father. He’s been absent in your life, isn’t that correct?” The man continued to ask, ignoring Billie’s discomfort. “Your birth name is also Billie Madison McCallister yet you use your mother’s maiden name in show business. Why is that?” Billie looked around behind the cameras to look at Lily who looked just as bewildered by this as she was. Robert’s personal assistant didn’t seem to know what to do either as both assistants watched the disaster unfold itself.

“I-I don’t-” Billie started to say but the man ignored her as he went on.

“Could it be because of his arrest record? Assault and battery, public intoxication, fraud, grand theft auto…” The man said with a snobbish look on his face and Billie could feel the carefully articulated mask she kept over her face unravel. 

She knew what he was thinking.

He was thinking that she was just some stupid hick from Texas. Another example of trailer park trash that didn’t belong with the rest of them. He wanted people to know that under all the glamour and beauty, she was just another opportunity snatching airhead that only managed to claw her way into Hollywood because she came from a long line of con-artists. That’s all she was...another little con-artist. Like her father. 

A fake. 

“A source even said that you were found at the scene of a couple of the crimes with your father.” The man said as he broke Billie out of her thoughts and she immediately looked up at him in shock. 

“H-How did you know that?” Billie asked stupidly, taken back by the question. She hadn’t been expecting to hear anything like that. How could he have known that? It didn’t make any sense. 

“Are kidding me right now?!” Robert said as he raised his voice at the interviewer. “She’s a kid! Question me all you want but leave her out of it…” 

Billie zoned out as he continued to berate the interviewer for having the audacity to interrogate both himself and Billie. She wasn’t paying that much attention after that. Her heart was racing in her chest as she slowly began to realize that her past could be uncovered like that. She was in the public eye now. Billie was a...celebrity. People could find things out about her and that terrified her. It didn’t matter that she changed her last name to Aufderheide and wore fancy clothes. Billie could still be reduced to the same sniveling scared seven year old little girl she used to be.

She didn’t really recollect what happened after that.

Robert had made some sarcastic comment about Diane Sawyer before helping her out of her seat. His arm found it’s way around her as he led her out of the room. Robert apologized to her under his breath as they left and once they were away from the interviewers and any onlookers, he took her aside and gave her a warm hug. Billie was kind of in a trance-like state as she stood there in his arms, staring into space. She hadn’t cried but she hadn’t said anything either. 

“You shouldn’t have had to deal with that. I’m so sorry.” He told her as he looked down at her, sympathy in his brown eyes. Robert looked entirely like a father in that moment but this time it wasn’t a trait Billie admired about him. It just made her feel uncomfortable at that point. “They only asked you those things because they were asking me things about my past. I’m sorry I put you in that position.”

“It’s okay…” Billie mumbled. His gaze and demeanor was protective which made Billie even more uncomfortable. Robert was acting like how a father should act...like how her father should’ve acted all those years ago but Billie didn’t like it. It made her feel too many things and it made her want to cry. There was nothing more Billie hated than crying. She hated feeling like that seven year old girl crying in a dark parking lot as they took her father away in handcuffs. Robert made her feel like she was seven years old all over again and she hated the feeling. She resented him a bit for making her feel that way too.

“I’ll take care of this. Don’t worry.” Robert told her and she didn’t know what to make of that. However, before she could ask what he meant about that, their personal assistants arrived as well as studio executives who apologized for the journalist taking the interview too far. It wasn’t long before Billie was ushered out of the building by Lily. She only looked back once to get one last look at Robert who looked to be in a heated discussion with the studio executives. Billie’s eyes lingered on him for a moment before Lily said something and took her attention away from Robert.

This was about three months ago.

Billie had expected to hear some backlash from the interview after that. She expected her publicist to berate her for not handling the situation better. Billie thought Isabel would complain, like she always did, about all that media training being such a waste on Billie who never listened. She also expected the spotlight to remain glued to her but Billie didn’t hear anything like that. In fact, no one even mentioned her awkward and personal interview. Billie, being the curious person she was, even looked up a video of the interview on YouTube to see why no one made a big to-do about it.

It was then that Billie realized why.

It was because that part of the interview, the one that showed Billie in her most vulnerable state, never made the final cut. The whole interview was focused on Robert. The only tense moments were when the interviewer asked Robert all the personal and intrusive questions about his past. The moment she had been dreading never came. It was gone. Wiped clean from the video.

When Billie asked her publicist about it, Isabel told her that Robert and his team had taken care of it. She said that they were used to handling bad publicity where Robert was concerned so the actor saw no need for her past to be brought into the media’s spotlight. Billie wondered for a while how Robert got them to cut the portion about her father out of the interview until she realized how. He probably paid them off. That was the only way to shut people up these days. Money could work miracles. Billie had a con-artist for her father so of course she knew that. She wasn’t naïve by any means.

Billie thanked him backstage at Jimmy Kimmel Live! which was the next time she saw him. He only smiled softly and told her not to mention it before ruffling her hair playfully. However, it was his eyes that made her heart stop. His eyes held a certain amount pity and kindness that made Billie sick to her stomach. 

He knew…

Robert knew something very personal about her and that made her uncomfortable. He knew about her father enough to feel bad for her like she was some charity case. Some poor little actress who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Of course, he would pity her like that. Robert, who grew up in all the madness in Hollywood, would never understand the little redneck who used to lay awake at night dreaming of a life where she wouldn’t have to listen to her mother arguing with her father over how they were going to pay the bills. A life where her family lived paycheck to paycheck. He didn’t understand and that made him feel bad about himself.

This was why he didn’t hesitate in forking over some of his money to help her. He felt bad for her unfortunate circumstance so he paid people off to keep their mouths shut about her. Robert made sure the attention stayed focused solely on him and not her because he pitied her like someone would pity a mutt that someone abandoned on the side of the road. This was also why Billie didn’t talk to him much after that. It was why avoided him on the set of Civil War and why she kept her distance. He made her uncomfortable because he knew something intimate about her...because he pitied her and Billie refused to be pitied.

 

“Billie, where did you go?” Sebastian said after his voice brought her out of her own dark thoughts. Billie swallowed hard as she looked at him as if she had forgotten he was there in the first place.

“What?” She questioned and Sebastian frowned, looking very concerned for the blonde actress.

“You just zoned out after I mentioned Robert.” He explained to her and Billie shrugged.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Billie told him quietly. Sebastian just stared at her, looking her over as he tried to assess what was wrong with her. She had been acting even odder than usual these past few months. Billie was more reserved and quiet. Well, she always was but it was even more so now. She barely talked to anyone other than him and Anthony. Billie seldom left her trailer other than for rehearsals, training, and filming. People were a little worried for the teenager. Even Robert seemed worried.

“Did you have another nightmare?” He asked her in a voice that was just as quiet. Billie had told him about her nightmares but she hadn’t told him about the incident with Robert and the interviewer. She didn’t know why she hadn’t told him since he knew everything about her father but Billie didn’t want to worry him. He had enough problems without having to worry about hers as well.

“Something like that.” Billie told him and Sebastian looked more determined to get to the bottom of this behavior of hers.

“Was it about your dad again?” He asked and Billie shrugged.

“Sort of.” Sebastian sighed heavily.

“Billie, it either was or wasn’t.” He told her and Billie sighed too.

“Yes. It was about my dad.” She finally admitted. The only reason she had even told Sebastian about her father was because she felt like he might understand on some level. He hadn’t had a present father either and had grown up with a single mother. Billie felt like maybe that’s what bonded her and Sebastian together in the first place. They both knew what it was like not having a dad around.

“What was it this time?” Sebastian asked, inquiring about which memory of hers it was that featured her father.

“The one where he takes me to the bar and gets the shit beat out of him in the parking lot.” Billie muttered and Sebastian tried to contain his anger. He always got pissed off whenever Billie mentioned the things her dad did. What kind of person would put their own child through stuff like that? Sebastian didn’t have any kids of his own but he thought he would be a good enough father that he wouldn’t do the stupid and irresponsible shit that Billie’s father did.

“Have you told your mom that you’ve been having these nightmares again?” He asked quietly and Billie immediately shook her head.

“No.” She denied but explained herself further when she saw the look on Sebastian’s face. “Don’t look at me like that. Mom’s been really busy with setting up her clinic and I also know that she’ll only blame herself for everything. She always does even though it wasn’t her fault.” Billie only paused briefly before continuing.

“Mom had to be the responsible one in the family. She was working and going to school at the same time while my asshole of a father took advantage of that.” Billie said, feeling a bit guilty over everything that had transpired back then. “He made me lie to her. He said that she would take me away from him if I ever told her about all the fucked up shit he was doing. Back then, I felt like that would be a bad thing. Now...not so much.”

“Billie, it wasn’t your fault either. You were a child. Stop blaming yourself.” Sebastian tried to tell her but Billie was stubborn. Especially when it came to blaming herself for ruining her mother’s life. “Look, I just feel like your mother would want to know what’s been going on with you. Especially the nightmares.”

“Please don’t tell her, Seb.” Billie said desperately which was uncharacteristic for her. “Please don’t. She has enough to worry about and it was just a nightmare. I don’t want her to overreact.” Sebastian seemed torn as he looked at her. He knew he should probably tell her mother about this but on the other hand Billie was really good at tugging on people’s heartstrings when she wanted. It was probably those pretty blue eyes of hers. Blue eyes that could put Paul Newman’s famous baby blues to shame.

“Okay but I will if this becomes a common occurrence.” Sebastian said, finally relenting. Billie nodded in satisfaction.

“Agreed.” Billie told him, relatively satisfied with his answer. She then returned her gaze to the two scripts on the coffee table and Sebastian followed her gaze curiously. He felt the need to turn the conversation into a different direction. It was better to not let Billie dwell too much on the topic of her father. He knew what state the thought of her father put her in. Even though Sebastian thought she could really benefit from therapy, he knew Billie would be insulted from him even suggesting such a thing. It was just the way Billie was. She said she didn’t believe in Quacks that took all your money for spouting a bunch of useless bullshit. Sebastian didn’t agree with her but he understood why she felt like that.

“What are these?” Sebastian asked, changing the subject to a more light hearted one. Billie shrugged.

“It’s a couple of scripts that my agent sent me. I’ve been offered a couple parts.” Billie told him and Sebastian suddenly looked interested.

“Is one of these the M. Knight Shyamalan movie you told Mackie and I about?’ Sebastian asked her and Billie nodded as Sebastian grabbed onto the one entitled ‘Split’. He casually flipped through the script.

“I really want to do the Shyamalan movie but I also got offered a pretty big part in a Spielberg movie so I don’t know anymore.” Billie told him and Sebastian nearly dropped the script when she said that. His eyes widened as he looked at her in surprise.

“Spielberg?” Sebastian questioned and Billie nodded, looking very overwhelmed herself.

“He’s adapting the novel Ready Player One onto the big screen. My agent told me that there’s a lot of competition for the role but I’m being strongly considered for one of the main roles.” Billie explained to him but Sebastian still looked shocked but also proud. Billie had come a long way ever since he met her two years ago. She was just a fifteen year old kid back then and while she was only two years older now, he knew she completely deserved opportunities like these.

“Really?” Sebastian said, still in a state of surprise.

“Antoine Fuqua recommended me to him after we did The Equalizer. I didn’t even know until Luke told me he could get me an audition for the movie.” Billie informed Sebastian who only nodded in response.

“That’s amazing...wow. I don’t even know what to say. Steven Spielberg.” Sebastian said, slightly in awe. “This is really good news, Bills.”

“I don’t know, Seb. I mean, I’m more excited than anyone about auditioning for a Spielberg movie but I already have a lot on my schedule.” Billie told him, trying to get a grasp on the dilemma she was currently having. “I'm in negotiations to sign on to do a comedy after Civil War wraps. Not to mention I have reshoots for The Witch next year. ”

“Why don’t you just audition for both and then see what happens.” Sebastian suggested. “If you get both then you can decide for yourself or if you only get one then at least it makes the decision easier for you.” Billie nodded to herself. That actually made a lot of sense. She knew she could always count on Sebastian for advice. 

“That’s actually really helpful advice.” Billie told him. “I don’t know. Even by some miracle if I get both then I’ll have to wait and see what the shooting schedules are. If they overlap then there’s so way I can do everything.”

“What about school? I thought you were going back to Texas after filming wraps up?” Sebastian inquired, referencing the fact that Billie had previously expressed her desire to go back to high school for her senior year. Billie sighed heavily.

“I don’t know. I was just thinking about sticking with an on set tutor, after all, and maybe graduating a bit early. I only need a couple more credits and then I’m finished.” Billie told him and Sebastian gave her a confused look.

“I thought you were looking forward to going back home for your senior year?” Sebastian questioned in confusion. “You were talking about how excited you were for tailgate parties and homecoming. What changed?” Billie shrugged.

“Lindale just doesn’t have a ton of great memories for me anymore. I think it might be time for me to move on and grow up.” Billie told him honestly. “I’m not one to believe in signs but I’m thinking the sudden array of job offers is a sign that I shouldn’t really go back this school year.”

“You do seem to be in demand lately.” Sebastian murmured as his gaze softened as he looked at her. “I’m proud, don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t want you to have any regrets. Are you sure not going back to Texas for senior year is something you want? Have you discussed this with your mom?”

“Mom and I discussed it quite a bit. She doesn’t really want me to miss out on my senior year but she also gets that this is kind of my career.” Billie explained to him as Sebastian listened to her intently. “I mean, I already decided that I’m not going to college. What’s really the point? I already have a career and I’m getting so many opportunities that are really hard to pass on. Big things are happening for me, bigger than before, and I don’t want to miss out on anything.”

“So you’re going to spend the whole year going off to film things?” Sebastian asked her, looking a little worried for her. He had a right to. Billie had always managed to return to her hometown in Texas whenever she was finished filming something in LA or Atlanta. She would be gone for lengthy periods of time, forced to have an on set tutor, but she would always go back. This would be the first time she spent a whole entire year away from home. “How would that work? I thought your mom was busy setting up her clinic? Who would be with you? She’s not leaving you alone, right?” Billie rolled her eyes at him.

“God, Seb, don’t lose your shit.” Billie told him sarcastically before informing him of her thought out plan. “My grandfather has agreed to go with me to all the sets until I turn eighteen. I’m also probably not going to spend the entire year away from home. I’ll be home in between shoots. I just need a little more of a break away from Lindale.”

“I guess, I kind of get it. You do have a lot of amazing job offers.” Sebastian told her, feeling his worry subside a little. “I just want to make sure that this is something you’re sure about.”

“I’ve been giving this a lot of thought and I think it’s the right decision. I’ll miss my friends a lot but they have plans for college and we’re just on different paths. This makes sense.” Billie told him honestly and Sebastian nodded in understanding.

“I know but if it’s what you want then go for it. Don’t let me or anyone else talk you out of it.” Sebastian supportively as he smiled at her. “You’re on your way to a really big career, Billie. I’m proud of you.” Billie smirked at him, not being able to resist making a sarcastic comment in an otherwise really sweet moment.

“Thanks, Dad.” Billie said sarcastically and Sebastian just rolled his eyes at the teenager before leaning over and hugging her. She returned the hug nonetheless even though she didn’t really consider herself a hugger. She’d make an exception for Sebastian Stan.

“In all honesty, thank you, Seb.” Billie said softly, growing a little more serious as she pulled away from him.

“Don’t mention it.” He told her before he decided to get Billie out of the hotel room. She didn’t need to be holed up in this place all day. It would do the blonde some good to get out and do things. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Sure.” Billie said, being more agreeable than usual. “Frozen Yogurt?”

“Fine but we have to hit the gym afterwards. Brad told me you’ve been lazy with your training lately.” Sebastian told her with a knowing look on his face. Billie groaned.

“If you keep acting like a dad then I’m just going to call you dad all the time. You’re such a dad, Seb. It’s disgusting.” Billie told him playfully and Sebastian just rolled his eyes at her again.

“You’re hilarious as always, Billie.” Sebastian said sarcastically before he grabbed her and practically forced her off the couch. Billie grabbed her phone but left her wallet. Might as well let it be Sebastian’s treat. He was being a dick by forcing her to go to the gym, after all.

“I’m still not happy about the gym thing.” Billie told him and Sebastian just smirked at her in amusement.

“Don’t worry. Mackie and I will go easy on you.” Sebastian said with a mischievous glint in his pale blue eyes. Billie scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“I honestly doubt that.”


	11. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie reaches the end of the Civil War shoot and Tom brings up a rather sore subject to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: *IMPORTANT MESSAGE* Okay so I just wanted to let you guys know that I made a couple small changes to the story. I've expanded Billie's acting career a little bit so she's actually been working a little bit longer than before. I've been binge watching Mad Men and I can totally see Billie as Sally Draper so I added that to her filmography and I think it explains how amazing of an actress she is at such a young age because she worked on an award winning show for many years surrounded by very talented actors. I also added 500 Days of Summer, Let Me In, The Equalizer, and The Library(Off-Broadway Play) to her filmography. I've been really tweaking with Billie's filmography lately but I think I've finally gotten it to where I want it. Other than those slight changes, her filmography remains the same. Billie also lived in LA for a while, while she was filming Mad Men but she's technically moved back to Texas at this point in the story. I also changed it so that she was actually homeschooled because she was filming a TV show for several years but these changes don't impact what I've already written in the story.

A couple days later, Billie was suited up in her Viper Assassin attire since she was scheduled to shoot an action sequence that day. The days of filming Civil War were coming to a close with only a week left for the shoot...well, until reshoots came up, that is. Billie was mostly finished with shooting all her scenes with Sebastian, Anthony, and Chris which kind of made her sad since those three were the three that she spent the most time with when filming these movies. She usually spent every day with every single one of them. However, today was the day she was scheduled to shoot her scenes with Tom.

Billie would never get over the fact that she was wearing a superhero costume and she was somehow getting paid for it. This was probably also the only job occupation where you could dress like a superhero and not be made fun of for it. She was never particularly interested in superhero movies growing up anyways. X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman...Billie wasn’t interested in any of it. Billie always tended to gravitate towards graphic and horror-filled material which was why she never cared for the other stuff. Call her old fashioned but Billie usually hated playing things that weren’t real like superheroes for example. 

Billie normally liked playing real, ordinary people who were thrown into the most troubling situations like in some of the horror films she did or even just Sally Draper on Mad Men...a part she had grown into. There were times she made exceptions in playing characters who were a bit beyond human nature...like Emma Rogers in the MCU and then Hadley Conners on American Horror Story but that was it. Even so, Billie couldn’t deny the fact that she loved being part of the Marvel family. She got to work with other actors that she never thought she would ever be able to work with otherwise.

The Viper Assassin costume was probably an expensive piece of material that some of the world’s best costume designers created. It was similar to the costume Scarlett wore as the Black Widow but the Viper Assassin’s suit was a dark green color instead of black. There was a contraption around her wrist, much like the contraption the Black Widow had that contained her widow bites, that contained the Viper Assassin’s viper bites. The Viper Bites which were filled with non lethal gas used to knock her enemies unconscious.

The Viper Assassin’s suit was also completed with a matching dark green mask that covered half of her face. Sometimes Billie felt a little stupid walking around in the whole get-up but at least she didn’t look like Mark Ruffalo who trotted around in what looked like pajamas when they did Age of Ultron.

“Billie, you’re here.” Joe said excitedly as Billie approached him and his brother.

They were currently in one of the studio buildings with the green screen. The studio building was currently serving as the landscape for the big airport fight scene in the movie. Billie had lost count of the amount of times she had filmed bits and pieces for that fight scene. She had no idea what it was going to look like when it was finished either. Billie and the rest of team Captain America had yet to see who they were actually fighting for a majority of the big fight sequence. Nothing with Downey or Cheadle...that was for certain. Billie had a brief fight scene with Scarlett and another one with Chadwick but that was the extent of it.

Until now.

“Hey.” Billie said somewhat awkwardly, always a tad bit more uncomfortable when she was wearing the Viper Assassin suit. Not that it was super uncomfortable or anything but it was a bit tight for her liking. Both brothers looked her over but not in a creepy way. It was that nerd look they got in their eyes whenever they saw one of their favorite superheroes come to life. Billie would never understand them.

“You look great, Billie.” Anthony told her. She just nodded.

“Thank you.” She told him and Joe grinned at her but it was then that someone else had captured everyone else’s attention.

Tom walked on set in his Spider-Man suit.

It was like there was a change in the atmosphere because it wasn’t just some short kid from England wearing a Spider-Man suit. No, it was Spider-Man himself. Billie had never been interested in Spider-Man like the rest of the world, her idea of a superhero being Buttercup from the Powerpuff Girls, but she couldn’t deny that it was a tiny bit cool that Spider-Man was on set.

Not that Billie would ever admit that aloud.

“Tom!” Anthony said happily as Tom walked over to them. He had a boyish grin on his face that was infectious. Even Billie, who rarely smiled, managed to give the nineteen year old a small smile.

“Guys,” Tom started to say as he greeted them. He looked at each Russo brother before his eyes finally rested on Billie...in her Viper Assassin suit of all things. It was one thing seeing her in the suit on the big screen but it was another seeing it in person. Tom couldn’t deny that the suit was very form fitting although he knew better than to stare too long. It wasn’t polite and he was also sure that someone like Billie would probably slap him if he did something like that. He got the impression that Billie Aufderheide wasn’t someone you wanted to cross. She was scarier than any actress he had ever met. Maybe even scarier than any person he had ever met before too. A pretty scary but still scary.

“You look fantastic.” Joe complimented and it was obvious the two brothers were trying to contain themselves. Billie rolled her eyes because they were practically having a nerdgasm with Spider-Man in the room.

“You both do.” Anthony added before glancing over at his brother. “Joe and I are going to go over a couple things before we start. Just sit tight for a couple minutes.”

“Sure. Do whatever you need to.” Billie said nonchalantly and Tom nodded in agreement. Joe and Anthony gave the two teenagers a smile before heading off to go discuss the scene with the fight coordinators.

“So this is it, huh?” Tom said once Joe and Anthony walked away. Billie turned to him, raising her eyebrow in response.

“What?” She questioned and she tried not to find the goofy grin on his face charming. Billie tried to tell herself that he looked like an idiot when he smiled like that even though she knew she was just lying to herself.

“This is the big fight scene. You know...Spider-Man and the Viper Assassin.” Tom said excitedly and Billie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. That was another thing that annoyed her about him. He was so fucking happy all the time. Billie didn’t know what could possibly make a person that happy.

“I guess.” Billie said boredly and Tom wondered how she did that. He wondered how she could remain so aloof about everything. She was like the epitome of a cool girl with her uncaring attitude and nonchalance.

“Come on, you have to admit it’s a little exciting. You in your superhero outfit and me in mine.” Tom elaborated and Billie scoffed.

“I look like an asshole. So do you.” Billie deadpanned and Tom looked at her in surprise, thinking he had misheard her.

“What? How?” Tom questioned, not having the faintest idea as to what was going on. He kind of figured that he probably wouldn’t ever understand the blonde actress. She was a complete mystery to him. Just when he was starting to think he could figure her out, she did or said something else that completely confused him.

“I’m wearing a catsuit and you’re wearing spandex.” Billie said as if it were obvious.

“Well, I think it’s cool.” Tom said before frowning as he remembered something. “Although I have to admit it’s a bit annoying when all people want to do is grab and touch the suit.”

“I guess it would be.” Billie said, being terrible at small talk as usual. She really hated small talk. Tom then glanced back at her.

“You haven’t though.” Tom mentioned and Billie gave him a confused look.

“I haven’t what?” She questioned and Tom shrugged.

“You haven’t wanted to touch the costume.” He explained and Billie raised her eyebrows at him.

“You mean that I haven’t groped you?” Billie said before smirking at a blushing Tom. “Why? Do you want me to grope you, Holland? I’m pretty sure that’s inappropriate but after work hours is a whole other story.” 

Tom just stared at her in shock, not believing what had just come out of her mouth. What did he even say to something like that?

What did she mean by that?

Was she being serious?

Was she kidding?

Tom wasn’t sure.

She just told him the other week that she wasn’t interested in dating co-stars but she was really throwing him off right now. Tom wasn’t exactly sure that he would be against the idea of her flirting with him either. 

Billie, although she was very weird and slightly unhinged, was perhaps the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She embodied every quality of what you imagined a beautiful movie star to have. Between her natural, gorgeous blonde locks, ocean blue eyes with vague hints of green in them, long legs, and an almost perfectly symmetrical face that would make the likes of Grace Kelly jealous, Billie Aufderheide was very beautiful and Tom was sure she was aware of the fact too. He wasn’t blind to her beauty but he knew more than well that beauty wasn’t everything. Tom didn’t like to think of himself as a superficial person but it was hard not to be charmed by Billie’s transfixing blue eyes.

“I uh...I didn’t mean it that way, Billie.” Tom said nervously as he tried looking away from her piercing gaze. “I’m really sorry if I offended you or made you feel-” Tom only stopped when Billie started laughing at him. It was one of the rare occasions she laughed but he couldn’t help but notice how youthful she seemed when she laughed. Not that she wasn’t youthful, Billie was only seventeen, but she always seemed older than she was. Her laughter, however, made her seem the age that she really was. It was beautiful sounding laughter, Tom thought to himself.

“You don’t have to act so damn polite, Holland. Hasn’t a girl ever flirted with you before?” Billie told him, her Texan accent sounding a bit more pronounced than usual as she broke Tom out of his thoughts. Despite the usual fluttering in his stomach that he always felt at her very charming but also sexy accent, he gave her an incredulous look.

“You’re flirting with me?” Tom asked slowly, trying to understand what was happening. It seemed like that wasn’t the answer she was looking for because Billie sighed tiredly a moment later and rolled her eyes.

“Not anymore.” Billie said, her usual bored expression returning to her face. “You’re impossible to flirt with.” Tom opened his mouth to respond but Billie changed the subject before he could.

“So what’s in store for you next?” Billie asked as she randomly changed the subject. Tom continued to stare at her, beyond confused by Billie’s erratic behavior.

What just happened?

“I...um...what?” Tom asked stupidly and Billie shrugged.

“What are you working on next? You mentioned the other week that you had just finished filming a period piece. What’s next?” Billie questioned and Tom found that he was still getting used to her weirdness. He didn’t understand how she went from one topic and then switched to a completely different one. Tom swallowed hard as he gathered his bearings.

“Well, I’ve got a couple more period pieces lined up. I’m due to start filming this one film in particular with Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson so that’s exciting.” Tom said, allowing himself to ramble on about how excited he was for the next step in his career. “It’s not a huge role but I’m just happy to be working with such amazing actors.” Billie nodded because she knew the feeling. She never minded having small parts versus large ones because she always got to work with amazing actors and directors in the process.

“What’s the name of the film?” Billie asked curiously and Tom didn’t hesitate in answering, more than happy to fill Billie in on what he had lined up after Civil War was done filming.

“The Lost City of Z.” Tom informed her before he started to explain the premise of the film. “It’s about a British explorer in the early twentieth century who goes to Brazil to try and find an ancient lost city in the Amazon. It’s based off a book but it’s also based off real events.”

This piqued Billie’s interest because she was secretly a history buff. She always enjoyed her history courses during homeschooling although she wouldn’t admit that aloud. She would spend a majority of the time, when she wasn’t working, reading books about everything. It didn’t matter what genre it was...except for those teenage supernatural romance novels about werewolves and vampires.

Billie’s point was that she would read anything.

She was even a member of book of the month club although no one really knew that. It’s not that she was embarrassed but no one thought to ask her about her outside interests aside from Sebastian or Chris. Everyone probably just assumed that she was only interested in acting or clothes. Billie didn’t really blame them for that either. She played the part of the dumb blonde actress whenever it suited her interests best.

“That sounds really interesting. Is the ancient lost city supposed to be El Dorado?” Billie asked him and Tom looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t thought she’d take any interest in his film but he was flattered that she seemed interested.

“I guess it would be although they never actually found it...well, they never returned, that is. No one knows what happened to them. Charlie’s character and his character’s son, who I play, disappeared.” Tom told her and Billie nodded.

“That sounds creepy but I guess the world’s full of mysteries like that.” Billie observed and it was Tom’s turn to look curious as he glanced over at her.

“What about you? What do you have lined up next?” Tom asked her and Billie considered his question thoughtfully. She wanted to tell him about the Shyamalan and Spielberg films but nothing was set in stone yet and she didn't want to jinx it. So she just told him about the stuff on her schedule that actually was set in stone.

“I’m due to film a guest appearance on a comedy show in a couple weeks. As soon as Civil War ends anyways .” Billie told him and this made Tom even more curious.

“What comedy show is that?” Tom asked her and Billie shrugged.

“The Mindy Project.” Billie said nonchalantly and Tom’s eyes widened in surprise, slightly familiar with the show but he was more surprised that the very serious Billie Aufderheide would appear on a comedy show like the Mindy Project. Not that the Mindy Project was bad or anything but he couldn't picture Billie and Mindy Kaling in the same room.

“Really?” Tom told her, clearly excited for her. Billie smiled.

“I’m a huge fan of the show and Mindy's an incredibly talented person as well. She's an actor, writer, producer, and director.” Billie explained. "The world could do with more Mindy Kalings. I'm really excited to have the chance to meet her."

“Comedy’s very difficult. I’m not sure if I could ever do it.” Tom said softly and Billie nodded.

“I agree. I’ve done a couple guest appearances on comedies before and it was really difficult. Comedians don’t get enough credit.” Billie told him and Tom smiled.

“I know. My father’s a comic and I don’t think I’ve held as much admiration for any occupation as his. Comedy’s incredibly hard.” Tom said much to Billie’s surprise. She didn’t know why she was surprised either. It’s not like she knew him well enough to be surprised that his father was a comic.

“Really?” Billie questioned and Tom nodded. It made her curious that Tom’s dad had a sense of humor. The only sense of humor her own dad had was when he left her and her mother in the 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner he promised her when she turned sixteen. The same car he told her she would get to drive all over Texas the minute she turned sixteen. That was fucking hilarious. It was the most fucking hilarious thing that Billie had ever heard. She, of course, was being sarcastic when she said that.

“Yes. Mum’s a photographer. They make quite the couple.” Tom said as another curious look came over his face. He was starting to realize there was a lot he still didn’t know about the mysterious blonde actress. “What about your parents? What do they do? Are they actors too?” Billie smiled softly before shaking her head.

“No, not at all. I’m the first actor in my family as far as I know.” Billie told him truthfully. “My mom’s a veterinarian. She went to vet school for a majority of my childhood in LA while I was filming for Mad Men and she worked at a clinic in Los Angeles for a while too after she finished school.”

Tom was delightfully surprised by this information although he had to admit he was growing more and more curious about Billie’s mother. Billie's mother had only been mentioned a couple times in conversation but she sounded...unique. Like Billie. Although, Tom had to admit he was curious about Billie’s father too. He was almost positive Billie’s father had never come up in conversation.

“A vet. That’s amazing.” Tom remarked and Billie nodded, feeling very proud of everything her mother had achieved despite having to sacrifice a lot for Billie’s career. Her mother was one of the most intelligent people Billie had ever known but she was also Billie’s best friend.

“She’s opening her own clinic with another vet right outside San Antonio. I’m very proud of her.” Billie said and that was one of the rare occasions Tom had seen an actual emotional response out of the girl. An emotional response that didn’t seem cold or sarcastic, at least.

“What about your father? What does he do?” Tom asked her and he was disappointed to see the hardening of her delicate facial features as well as a coldness in her eyes that chilled him to the bone. It was a look he had seen before but only on the big screen and only when she was the Viper Assassin.

“My father and I don’t really talk anymore.” She said vaguely and Tom noticed that there was a sharpness to her voice. A confused look crossed Tom’s face.

“Oh, because you’ve been busy with filming? Yeah. I find it a bit difficult to find time to-” Tom started to say but Billie interrupted him before he could make anymore assumptions.

“I meant that my father’s a deadbeat asshole so I don’t speak to him anymore.” Billie said harshly much to Tom’s bewilderment. He didn’t think she was being serious at first but the way she visibly retreated back into herself spoke volumes.

“Oh...I-I didn’t know.” Tom said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” Billie said shortly and Tom felt bad for causing her any distress. That hadn’t been his intention and he was slowly starting to realize that Billie’s father might not be something to bring up to the actress. However, before Tom could further apologize or respond to what she said, Anthony and Joe walked back over to them.

“Okay, guys. We’re all set to go.” Anthony said to them, a huge grin on his face and a similar one on his brother’s face.

“Great.” Billie muttered and Tom smiled at them but he still felt concern for the clearly upset actress. Joe and Anthony quickly talked them through the action sequence and Billie set her father out of her mind as she avidly paid attention to them. She decided not to let Tom’s inquiry about her father bother her. He didn’t know so it wasn’t his fault but Billie might’ve reacted a bit too hastily. Her father had that kind of impact on her.

Tom and Billie spent the day shooting the action sequence. Some shots went well and some needed a few more takes but Anthony and Joe were confident in what they had. They would only need a couple more days of shooting the action sequence but they were confident in what they had for the movie. It wasn’t just a fight scene between Emma Rogers and Peter Parker but it was more than that. It was the first time the two characters met on screen which was why it was so important to the film and future films in the MCU.

Tom tried to talk to Billie after they were finished with shooting but she had already left for her trailer. There wasn’t even a glimpse of her in sight. He really wanted to apologize to her earlier for pushing for information about her father but it seemed like he wasn’t going to get the chance. The young actor felt terrible about upsetting her even if he hadn’t meant to.

 

 

“Robert, can I ask you something?” Tom asked the famous actor on one of the rare occasions he was invited to Downey Town. It seemed like Robert invited an actor to Downey Town everyday for lunch. This was the third time Tom had been invited and he was immensely grateful but if he was being honest, he only came because he was curious and wanted to ask the only other actor on set, that he was familiar with on some level, about something that was bothering him. That person couldn’t be Billie either for obvious reasons.

“What’s on your mind, kid?” Robert asked him curiously as they ate their lunch. Tom still couldn’t get over the glamour and over-the-topness that came with Robert Downey Jr. The personal chef catered food that was better and more lavish than what you would get in some of the best restaurants in New York or London. It was extravagant but Tom couldn’t help but indulge himself. Especially since he was in the company of someone so incredibly famous.

“It’s about Billie.” Tom said quietly and Robert raised an eyebrow.

“What? Do you want advice on how to ask her out or something?” Robert questioned jokingly as he smirked at the young actor who only blushed in response. “Sorry, kid. I can’t help you there. How to woo an Aufderheide is a mystery all on it’s own. She thinks Bill Pullman is sexy...the dad from Casper and the president from Independence Day. I don’t know what he has that draws her to him but I don’t think I want to know either.”

“No. That’s not what I meant at all.” Tom told him seriously before a more troubling look came over his face. “Something happened the other day.” A confused expression appeared on Robert’s face as he looked very intrigued by what Tom had to say.

“What happened?” Robert inquired and Tom took a deep breath before speaking.

“Billie and I were talking before we had to shoot a scene the other day and I think I may have upset her.” Tom admitted and Robert was more confused than ever. How could the kid upset anyone? He was the nicest person on set. Robert was more surprised that Billie hadn’t been the one to say something to upset the kid.

“What did you say?” Robert asked him and he was slowly starting to realize how difficult it was to get an answer out of him. Tom sighed. The kid beat around the bush too much.

“We were talking about our parents and it just came up in conversation somehow. I mentioned what my parents did and then she told me how her mum was a vet.” Tom mentioned and Robert winced.

“You didn’t mention her dad, did you?” Robert asked knowingly and Tom looked up at him in surprise.

“Um...yes. I actually did.” Tom said, looking at Robert with more curiosity than before. “I asked her what he did and I think I really upset her. I didn’t intend to-” Tom was then interrupted by the older actor as Robert sought to inform him of a few facts about the eccentric blonde actress.

“Listen, no one really knows much about Billie’s dad. She doesn’t talk about him…ever.” Robert informed him much to Tom’s shock. “I don’t think she’s ever mentioned him in all the time I’ve known her. Granted that’s not a very long time but still.”

“What happened?” Tom asked, unable to stop the words from coming out of his mouth. Robert sighed heavily before answering.

“I’m not sure. I’m guessing he left her and her mom. Why else would she hate his guts?” Robert said before moving the conversation forward. “It really none of anyone’s business so we never ask why we’ve never met him or where he is.”

“So no one’s ever met him?” Tom asked in surprise and Robert shook his head.

“Just her mom. Sarah’s a very lovely young woman although I have to admit I thought she was Billie’s sister at first.” Robert said seriously as Tom hung onto every word he said. He figured that this meant that Billie’s mother was very young. “We just figure that Billie doesn’t want to talk about it so we leave it alone.”

“So no one knows anything?” Tom questioned and Robert shrugged, starting to get a little uncomfortable because he actually did happen to know a couple of things about Billie’s dad but he knew better than to divulge that information. Some things were best left unsaid and it wasn't his story to tell anyways.

“I assume that Sebastian knows a lot more than the rest of us.” Robert said truthfully as he purposefully left out the fact that he knew a few details about Billie’s dad. “The two are very close. Not in a creepy way or anything but more like a brother/sister thing or a sort of paternal bond.”

“I’ve noticed that. Billie always seems happier when she’s with him.” Tom said observantly and Robert nodded.

“Even if he did know something, I doubt he’d ever betray her trust like that. Billie’s clearly his favorite on set and he’s clearly hers.” Robert told him and Tom nodded in understanding.

“She really doesn’t like talking about it then...her father, I mean.” Tom stated and Robert smiled softly but nodded.

“I think we all have family issues in one way or another.” Robert said, being unusually quiet and solemn for once. “Billie’s a very private person...very reserved. She’s not shy but it’s difficult even to just pull a conversation out of her.” Robert only briefly paused before he continued to explain the complexity of Billie Aufderheide to the young, inexperienced actor.

“Don’t get me wrong. She can be very charming when she wants to be...whenever it suits her interests anyways. She just lays that cute little Texan accent on thick and everyone’s putty in her hands.” Robert explained as Tom listened to him intently. “But she also keeps to herself a lot. She doesn’t like to divulge information about herself and I think the only thing we can do is to respect that.”

“I understand.” Tom said quietly, not knowing what else to say. It seemed like Robert had managed to give him a lot more answers than he had but Tom was still left pretty empty handed when it came to understanding Billie Aufderheide.

“Don’t worry about it, Tom.” Robert said, breaking him out of his thoughts. “Whatever you said to her about her dad, I’m sure she’ll forget it the next time you see her. Billie only holds a grudge if you insult the great state of Texas.”

“Okay.” He said quietly once more and Robert smirked at him.

“Don’t look so gloomy, kid. We still have that scene to shoot with Marisa today.” Robert told him and Tom gave him a small smile as the famous actor changed the subject to something lighter. However, Tom’s thoughts were still on the blonde actress he was no closer to figuring out.

It never occurred to Tom that some people, like Billie, didn’t have good relationships with people in their families. Tom wouldn’t know. His parents were happily married and he was close to the both of them. Although his brothers drove him insane sometimes, he loved all of them too. If anything this thing with Billie just made him realize that he might’ve taken them all for granted. It was obvious that Billie, for some reason, hated her father. Tom didn’t think he had ever heard anyone address their father that way. Her voice had been filled with so much resentment that it had chilled Tom right to the bone. She really must’ve hated her father, he realized.

Tom couldn’t even begin to imagine resenting his father the way she did. It made Tom wonder just what Billie’s father did that made her that cold. Maybe he did leave like Robert suggested or maybe it was even worse. Still...Tom knew better than to ask her about it. It was obviously a topic she was sensitive about and he already felt bad enough for offending her. No, Tom would find Billie tomorrow and apologize for causing her any discomfort. Hopefully she would accept his apology and they could put the whole incident behind them. Tom really hoped so because he thought he was just beginning to be able to call Billie his friend.

Despite everything, Tom knew he had a lot more appreciation for his own father now. Especially after hearing about Billie’s tumultuous relationship with her father. Maybe Tom would even call his father after he was finished having lunch with Robert. Yes. That sounded like a really good idea.

 

“Billie!” The blonde actress had been walking around set with Elizabeth Olsen as they caught up with each other. Despite their characters cold and distant relationship, Billie and Elizabeth were good friends in real life. Billie wasn’t as close to Elizabeth as she was to Sebastian but she still liked the woman well enough. The two young women paused in their walk as they turned to see where the voice was coming from.

“Billie, there you are. I’ve been looking for you for the longest time.” Tom said, sounding a bit out of breath as he came to a stop in front of the two actresses. Billie stared at him in bewilderment while Elizabeth just gave the nineteen year old an amused look. Tom nodded at Elizabeth. “Hey, Elizabeth.”

“It’s just Lizzie, Tom.” Elizabeth said kindly as she looked between the two teenagers with the same amused look on her face. Tom nodded once more before looking back at Billie.

“Um...Can I talk to you for a moment?” Tom asked Billie who looked more perplexed than Elizabeth had ever seen before. Secretly, the actress thought Billie and Tom were kind of cute together...something she had brought up to the Texan actress on a couple occasions but Billie always muttered a couple curses under her breath and gave her a dirty look. For someone who was an actress, Billie really seemed to be against the idea of dating an actor. It was like she thought actors were the most revolting people in the world. Billie really made self-loathing into an art form.

“Sure.” Billie said, sounding confused before glancing back at Elizabeth. “We’ll talk later?” Elizabeth smiled, looking between the two teenagers one last time as she nodded.

“Yeah, we’ll talk later. I have to see Kevin about something anyways.” Elizabeth told her before giving Tom a nod and then proceeding to walk off in the opposite direction. Tom waited until Elizabeth was out of hearing distance before he turned back to Billie.

“I haven’t seen you in a couple days.” Tom told Billie as she watched him with an unreadable look on her face. For some reason it always unnerved him when she looked at him like that. It felt like she could see right through him.

“I’ve been busy.” Billie said, an aloof expression on her face and Tom swallowed hard as he tried to gather as much courage as he could. Sometimes the blonde actress was very intimidating. Her eyes which had a way of piercing your soul as well as her tall height both proved to be intimidating. Today she was wearing heels so Tom was certain she was standing at about six feet right now, towering over his height of 5’8.

Why were German women so tall?

“Well, I just wanted to talk to you to make sure I didn’t offend you in any way the other day when we were talking.” Tom told her, trying to be direct with her. Billie stared at him and even though she knew exactly what he was talking about, she decided to play the dumb blonde card.

“What are you talking about?” Billie said as she put her acting abilities to the test and feigned confusion. Tom felt more nervous than ever.

“I asked you about your dad and I didn’t know that it was a sore subject for you-” Tom started to say but Billie interrupted him without hesitation.

“It’s not a sore subject.” She said shortly and her tone was icy like it was before when he asked her about her dad. Tom winced because he knew he said the wrong thing yet again.

“I know but my point is that I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry.” Tom finally said and he expected an emotional response out of Billie. Either a response that was full of anger or sadness but he was surprised to see none of the above from Billie. She simply shrugged, a look of nonchalance on her face as she looked at him.

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable.” Billie said so casually that Tom was beginning to question the fact that he had even upset her in the first place. “I’m sorry about the other day. I was nervous about the scene and I snapped at you. I shouldn’t have.” Tom doubted that. He doubted that Billie was ever nervous about anything. She was always so cool and confident. So much that Tom was a little envious of her for that.

“Well, that’s okay.” Tom told her because he was getting the vague feeling that Billie was telling him to drop it. She didn’t say it aloud but she told him with her eyes.

“I have to go.” Billie said quietly and she was starting to grow uncomfortable again because she felt as if she had revealed too much to him. She usually kept herself at arm’s length around co-stars but Tom was so easy to talk to. It was easy to talk to him and to leave her guard down too. Billie just wasn’t so sure that she liked that.

“Oh...okay.” Tom said, not knowing what else to say. He had hoped that things would just automatically go back to being the same between them but he wasn’t getting that feeling right now. She still seemed distant to him. Just as distant as she had felt when they first met.

“I probably won’t see you until the premiere.” Billie mentioned much to Tom’s surprise. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at her. He thought she meant that she had to head back to the hotel or something. Not about leaving on a more permanent basis. 

“What?” He questioned and Billie nodded.

“I have to finish shooting my scene with Lizzie tomorrow and then that’s it.” Billie told him honestly as Tom continued to watch her in surprise. “I’ll be catching the first flight back to Texas. I’ve been away from my mom all summer so it’ll be nice to be back home.”

“I’m sorry to see you go.” Tom told her, not knowing what else to tell her. He had to admit that he was a bit sad to see that she was leaving. He felt like they were just starting to become friends and he really liked her. Everyday seemed to be a new adventure with Billie and Tom liked the feeling. He was going to miss her a lot. That was for sure.

“It’s been fun but I’d just like to sleep in my own room for once. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little homesick.” Billie told him and Tom could understand that. He nodded.

“I’m homesick too and this place is so far from home.” Tom told her honestly and Billie smiled but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. The smile looked sad.

“I know Georgia isn’t that far from Texas but sometimes it feels like it’s worlds away.” Billie said softly as he looked back at him. “That sounds insane, doesn’t it?” Tom smiled and shook his head.

“No, it doesn’t.” Tom said wistfully as he then looked back at her in wonder. “I’ve never been to Texas before. What’s it like?” It was then that a more peaceful and happy look came across her face. It was the happiest she looked through the entire conversation.

“Where do I even start?” Billie said as she started to come up with something intelligent to say...something that would describe how nice of a place home was to her. “The sky never looks quite as big as it does in Texas. Some say that it looks even bigger in Africa but I don’t believe that. In Texas you could just lie awake all night looking at all the stars and constellations. It never gets boring and it never looks the same either.”

“It sounds beautiful.” Tom said and he could definitely tell that she was homesick. Georgia really wasn’t that far from Texas but it seemed far to Billie.

“It is. I mean, the land’s flat and everything’s so dry. You can’t really have much a Fourth of July there because of the drought but it’s home.” Billie explained and Tom just smiled as he continued to listen to her. “Everything’s simpler in Texas...more tranquil even. There’s no paparazzi or glamour that comes with Hollywood.” Billie only briefly paused as she began to explain life in Texas to him...well, the part of Texas she was from anyways.

“People leave you alone in Texas and people are a lot friendlier too.” Billie told him as she smiled at the thought of returning home. She wouldn’t be staying there long before she was due to head back to LA for auditions but she’d still cherish the time she spent there. “They smile at you when they pass by you on the street...complete strangers yet they’re more polite and respectful than most people you’ll come across in Hollywood.”

“London sounds like the opposite of that.” Tom remarked as he considered her recollection of Texas. “I mean, no one’s terribly rude but they tend to walk all over you if given the chance. It’s crowded and at times overwhelming. I don’t think it would even occur to people to smile in London and if you did smile then they would find you either crazy or weird.” Tom took a deep breath before continuing.

“I can’t even imagine looking at a sky like the one you talk about. Texas really does sound like another planet.” Tom said thoughtfully and Billie just smiled at him but her smile was genuine this time around.

“And London sounds like another planet to me.” Billie told him softly. “Although I’ve actually been to London a couple times in the past. Cities have always been fascinating to a little small town girl like myself but London is my favorite….after San Antonio, of course.” Tom chuckled.

“I’d really like to see it someday. Texas, I mean. It sounds wonderful.” Tom said in a voice that was equally as soft. Billie’s smile was fading at this point as she realized that this was probably the last time she would talk to him for a while. Despite everything she felt, Billie was really going to miss talking to him. It was nice talking to someone her own age on set. She was often surrounded by actors much older than herself but Tom made her feel more at ease.

“I hope you get to see it someday too.” Billie told him before a more serious look came over her face. It seemed like this really was goodbye...for now. “I should really get going. It’s getting late and I want to get some rest before the flight tomorrow.”

There was a sinking feeling in Tom’s stomach as he looked back at her because he realized that he wouldn’t see her for quite some time. He just wished that he had more of a notice. He would’ve gotten her a goodbye present or maybe he would’ve taken her to the arcade again.

“I guess this is goodbye if I don’t see you before tomorrow.” Tom told her and she smiled sadly at him.

“Yes. Goodbye.” Billie said in response.

“I’ll text you later on in the week.” Tom said as he continued to stare at her, trying to memorize her face in case he forgot it but Billie wasn’t like the other girls. He didn’t really have to fear forgetting her face because he could see her whenever he wanted.

She was a movie star, wasn’t she?

Billie starred in all kinds of movies and she seemed to be everywhere you looked. Her beautiful looks being the face of a make-up campaign because why wouldn't make-up companies want her on all their billboards and magazine ads? She was always the best dressed on the red carpet, drawing attention at every event she went to. Even when she was just minding her own business, taking a stroll in Los Angeles for example, cameras were drawn to her with people wanting to know who she was wearing and what she was doing. No, Billie wasn't the type of person you forgot at all. She drew attention in whatever room she was in. Billie just seemed like the first actress Tom knew who didn't bask in that attention. She almost seemed miserable in the spotlight which was unusual in their occupation.

“I’d like that.” Billie said softly and Tom smiled back at her. He was, however, surprised when Billie did the unexpected and hugged him. He was surprised because she didn’t seem like the hugging type. She was too reserved for him to get that vibe from her but she wrapped her arms around him nonetheless. Tom didn't see anything else to do then to return the hug as he briefly closed his eyes in content, his face resting against her hair. He couldn’t help but notice that her hair smelled like sunshine and flowers too. He didn’t really know that hair could smell like sunshine but Billie’s hair somehow did. She pulled away a little too soon for his liking a moment later and Tom did his best to not look disappointed.

“We hug in the South.” Billie told him, offering him the best explanation she could. “I know I don’t always act like it but my mother did raise me right. Southern hospitality and manners in all.” God, Tom was really going to miss that cute little Texas Twang.

“That’s good to know.” Tom said, not knowing what else to say but he didn’t have to say anything because Billie did.

“I’ll see you around, Holland. Good luck with that Charlie Hunnam movie.” Billie told him as she finally bid him goodbye like she said she was going to. She gave him one last smile before walking away, probably to head back to her hotel room. Tom watched her go silently, already knowing that he was going to miss the blonde Texan more than anyone else on set. He didn’t know what his life was like before meeting Billie Aufderheide but he knew it was going to feel dull without her. The only thing Tom didn’t know was how he was going to wait to see her again.


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie returns home to Texas and reunites with her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: If I'm being honest, this is only a filler chapter. Things pick up a bit more in the next chapter although it's not until chapter thirteen that things really start getting interesting again. Chapter Thirteen will skip ahead to early 2016. This chapter is also kind of short.
> 
> Please let me know what you think of this chapter. I really love reviews.

Lindale, Texas  
2005

“I can’t believe you, Ethan!” Sarah McCallister yelled at her husband who was currently nursing a black eye as he held a bag of frozen peas against his face. Billie knew her father was injured even though she wasn’t in the same room as her parents. She had witnessed him get beaten up, after all, and she had also witnessed him get arrested. Clark had stayed with her until her mother arrived. Buford and his men had already scattered when they heard the sirens. The local police found her father beaten up and drunk in the parking lot of the bar.

He, like always, mouthed off to the police so they arrested him for drunk and disorderly conduct. 

Billie, for the rest of her life, would never forget the lonely feeling she felt as she waited on the front steps of the bar with Clark. Even with Clark there, she never felt more alone in her life. The little seven year old stared off into the dark street for what felt like hours until her mother finally returned from the school she was attending in Dallas. It was a long drive so it was hard for her to be reached but it didn’t matter to Billie. It didn’t matter because Billie had spent an hour and a half reliving her father getting beaten up and arrested. A lot of things went through her mind in that time. Mostly she was just worried about her father. 

She was worried that he was going to stay in jail this time. 

This wasn’t the first time her father had been arrested and it wasn’t the first time she had been there when he was arrested either. When Billie was five her father had taken her with him when he went to go "fix" cars for people. That’s the lie he told her anyways. Little did she knew that fixing really meant stealing. The only reason her father didn’t end up going to prison was because his lawyer, his brother and Billie’s Uncle Levi, was a big shot lawyer from Austin. Billie’s uncle managed to get her father off on a technicality. 

Her father was always like that. He was like a snake, never knowing the consequences of his actions and lying for the hell of it. He lied, cheated, stole, and he never paid for any of it...because he always got away with everything. This wasn’t something she thought when she was seven but it was something that Billie came to figure out as the years passed by. Seven year old Billie could see no wrong in her loser of a father. 

Seven year old Billie was naïve.

“What is it now, Sarah?” Ethan said tiredly in the living room as Billie listened to her parents argue in her bedroom like she normally did. She sat on the edge of her bed, a scared look on her face as she held Mr. Gator tightly in her arms.

“Not only did you get yourself arrested but you brought our daughter to a bar! A bar!” Sarah said as she yelled at him. “She was left alone while the police took you into custody!”

“It’s not a big deal! Clark was there...you know Clark.” Ethan said defensively.

“Oh my god. You know what you did yet you don’t even care. Something bad could’ve happened to her but it’s like none of this means anything to you.” Sarah said in disbelief. “I know I shouldn’t have left her alone with you after last time...but I thought you learned your lesson. I thought you were finally getting your shit together.”

“Are you still going on about that? Look, Sarah, the police have it out for me. They always have.” Ethan said, sounding incredibly childish. 

“Same old Ethan. It’s never your fault, is it? It’s always someone else’s fault.” Sarah argued, her voice dripping with venom. “You’ve never grown up, Ethan. You’re the same Ethan I met back in high school.”

“And you’re always blaming me for everything. I’m always in the wrong according to you.” Ethan hissed.

“That’s because you’re you. You always do this.” Sarah said angrily. “You’re incapable of taking any responsibility. I work and I go to school so I don’t think it’s too much to ask that you don’t do anything stupid. Do you know how much bail money I had to hand over to get you out of jail tonight?!”

“I’m sorry I’m such an inconvenience to you, Sarah.” Ethan said sarcastically and Billie clutched her stuffed alligator tighter to her chest as the tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry I screwed your life up so much by knocking you up. I know you’re still punishing me for that.”

“I don’t regret having Billie. I just regret marrying you.” Sarah said venomously. There was a brief pause of silence as Billie still sat in her room crying like she always did when her parents fought. 

“Fuck you, Sarah.” Ethan said bitterly.

“Don’t you dare use that language in the house! You can cuss me out under your breath all you want but I won’t have Billie picking up on any of that bad language.” Sarah said coldly. 

“Well, she’s going to hear it eventually even if it’s not from me.” He said uncaringly and Billie heard a shuffling sound coming from the other room before her mother spoke up again. 

“Where are you going?” Sarah said demandingly. 

“Outside. I need a smoke.” Ethan said grumpily and Billie winced when she heard the screen door slam behind him. She sniffled as she heard nothing but silence...until her mother started crying, that is. Billie pressed her face against the softness of her stuffed gator’s fur. She was then taken by surprise when her mother opened the door abruptly. The seven year old looked up at her mother with sad eyes.

Sarah McCallister’s eyes were red and puffy from all the crying as she went into her daughter’s room to check on her. The short blonde looked like an older version of Emma with her long blonde locks and beautiful looks. They both had blue eyes but Sarah’s were bigger and more Bette Davis-like while Billie’s were more cat-like with small flecks of green in them. Billie always liked watching her mother get ready for work in the morning, watching longingly as her mother did her make-up as Billie hoped that she would look as pretty as her mother someday. Her mother was the most beautiful woman Billie had ever seen. She didn’t even think famous movie stars like Angelina Jolie or Nicole Kidman were as pretty as her mom. 

“Billie?” Sarah said softly as she looked at her daughter. “What’s wrong?”

“You and daddy are fighting.” Billie told her in a frightened tone and Sarah just stared at her in surprise. She supposed she forgot that Billie was just in the other room and not to mention the walls weren’t that thick. Sarah sighed heavily.

“I didn’t want you to hear any of that.” Her mother said quietly. 

“Why are you fighting?” Billie asked even though she had an idea. She was seven but she wasn’t stupid.

“Sometimes adults fight, Billie. Daddy did something wrong and mommy was mad at him.” Sarah informed her and Billie nodded although she still didn’t quite understand.

“Is daddy a bad person?” Billie asked her suddenly and Sarah’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Excuse me?” Sarah said in astonishment. “What would make you say such a thing?” Billie shrugged.

“I don’t know. Bobby Hensley at school said that daddy was a bad person because he gets into trouble all the time.” Billie told her and Sarah finally sat herself next to Billie on the edge of the bed. She gently placed her arm around her daughter’s shoulders.

“Your dad’s not a bad person, Billie. He does a lot of silly things sometimes but he’s not bad.” Sarah told her daughter. Despite being pissed off at her husband, Sarah didn’t want her daughter thinking that her dad was bad. Truthfully Ethan wasn’t bad. He was just stupid.

“Did you really mean what you said about wishing you never married daddy?” Billie asked her mother, her eyes resting on her lap instead of looking up at her mother. The young mother just stared at her seven year old daughter for a moment before sighing once more and answering Billie’s question.

“No...I...well, Billie, it’s not that I don’t love your father. I really do.” She said softly as she thought hard about how she was going to explain this to a seven year old. “It’s just that sometimes people get married when they shouldn’t get married.”

“Did you get married because of me?” Billie asked her quietly and Sarah smiled softly before shaking her head, brushing a loose strand of Billie’s hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

“No. We got married because we were young and very much in love. It was all very passionate and romantic. Your dad promised me a lot of things.” Sarah told her honestly as Billie listened to her intently. 

“It sounds nice. Kind of like daddy’s a prince.” Billie said innocently and Sarah smiled once more but the smile didn’t reach her eyes this time.

“Sometimes you shouldn’t marry the prince though. Sometimes the prince isn’t a good choice.” Sarah said but it was clear that her mind was somewhere else.

“I don’t get it.” Billie said in confusion and Sarah looked back at her.

“Promise me one thing, Billie.” Sarah said to Billie, her eyes very kind. “Promise me that you won’t get married young like I did. Promise me that you’ll take your time to grow up. And please promise me that you’ll never marry someone because of the passion. Promise me that you’ll marry your best friend.” Billie wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“But I don’t wanna marry Matty. He’s gross.” Billie said, thinking her mother was referring to Matteo Alvarez who was Billie’s best friend. Sarah laughed but shook her head.

“I didn’t mean Matty. I just meant that you should be friends with someone first before you fall in love.” Sarah elaborated but Billie still didn’t understand. However, she didn’t argue with her mother about this. She just nodded in agreement to make her mother’s sadness go away.

“Okay, Mommy.” Billie said simply before giving her mother a curious look. “Is daddy your best friend too then?” Sarah swallowed hard before nodding, faking a smile in the process.

“Of course.” She lied...because how could Sarah ever have the heart to tell Billie the truth? Her daughter was much too innocent for the truth of life and all it’s sad disappointment. Sarah could at least spare Billie the truth about her parents failing marriage. 

 

San Antonio, Texas  
2015

The flight to San Antonio was only two and a half hours long. It wasn’t terribly long, not compared to LA or New York, so Billie flew in coach. Why fly first class for such a short flight? It wasn’t the norm for Billie but she was much too practical to fly first class for every flight. Maybe to London but definitely not back to Texas.

She thought about a lot of things on the flight back home. Billie thought about how nervous she was for the audition for the Shyamalan movie then she thought about remembering to text Sebastian that she had gotten home safely. He worried like that which was endearing but slightly annoying too but a charming kind of annoying. But then Billie also thought about Tom who was surprisingly difficult not to think about.

I’ll text you later on in the week.

What did he mean by that? Did he mean he was going to text her tomorrow or did he mean in a week from yesterday? Billie had no idea although she didn’t know why this bothered her so much. He was an acquaintance at best and they didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. Billie was still uncomfortable with her small outburst concerning her father and she was uncomfortable that she hadn’t been able to control her emotions. She knew better than to act like that around people at work. 

Even with the awkwardness of her outburst, Billie had to admit that she was a bit disappointed that she hadn’t seen him today. She kind of hoped that she’d at least be able to say good-bye again but Elizabeth mentioned that he was filming a scene with Marisa Tomei. Billie also didn’t appreciate the smug look on Elizabeth’s face when she asked either.

“Are you really the Viper Assassin?” Billie heard a small voice from her right ask. She turned her head and noticed the young girl she met briefly when she first boarded the flight. The girl shyly asked her to exchange seats so she could sit next to the window. Billie hadn’t minded. She had been on too many planes in her lifetime to care about window seats.

The girl only looked to be thirteen years old but thirteen seemed much younger than Billie’s age of seventeen when in reality it was only a four year age difference. Four years was a long time in the life of a teenager. Billie knew that much. The blonde then decided to be nice for a change as she usually was with fans. It was just a lot of the actors in Hollywood that she didn’t have any patience for. Fans were never the problem for her.

“Yes.” Billie said as she smiled at the wide eyed teenager with auburn hair. “But I normally just go by Emma. Viper Assassin is kind of a mouthful.” The teenage girl smiled but shook her head.

“I know who you are. I just wasn’t totally sure.” The girl said shyly. “One time I thought I saw Harry Styles but I was wrong.”

“Well, it’s really me. Unless you were expecting someone cooler like Sophie Turner. I get mistaken for her a lot these days.” Billie said, half joking and half not.

“I’m a really big fan.” The girl told her, blushing as she continued to stare at the famous actress in awe. “I really loved you in American Horror Story.”

“Thank you.” Billie told her kindly before giving her a curious look. “What’s your name anyways?”

“Oh, um...I’m Maddie.” The girl told her before looking apologetic. “Sorry. I'm being rude. I’ve just never met a celebrity before.” Billie hid a look of discomfort at that term.

Celebrity. 

She didn’t like that word.

Billie wanted to tell the girl that celebrities were really just parasites to society who drove around in expensive cars and wore fancy clothes but she felt that would be too cynical for the girl. Best not to destroy a thirteen year old's fantasy, right?

“That’s fine.” Billie said instead. “So what brings you to San Antonio, Maddie? Visiting?” The girl shrugged.

“Sort of. My dad lives in Seguin.” Maddison told her and Billie nodded as she recognized the town name.

“That’s just next to New Braunfels.” Billie remarked before giving the girl a curious look. “Divorced parents?” The girl looked surprised at Billie’s question.

“How did you know?” Maddie questioned and Billie just smiled at her before shrugging.

“You’re talking to another child of divorce.” Billie told her and Maddie couldn’t help but laugh at the actress’s remark.

“I didn’t know that.” Maddie said, not being able to stop the words from coming out of her mouth. Billie smirked.

“In my line of work you never give anything away. That’s what grandma always says. Never tell them anything.” Billie said with a serious look on her face and Maddie just stared, perplexed by the odd actress. She wasn’t like what Maddie expected a famous actress to be like. “Just kidding. I don’t have a grandma.”

“Well, I’m a really big fan...of everything you've done. Avengers, American Horror Story, Begin Again, Let Me In...I could really go on and on.” The young girl told her before a more sheepish look crossed her face. “Although I have to admit that I’ve never seen Mad Men. I know it’s your most famous thing outside Marvel but-” Billie then interrupted her as she just gave the girl an understanding smile.

“Listen, do me a favor and don’t watch Mad Men until you’re in your twenties.” Billie said, giving her some advice. “I watched it a couple months ago for the first time and it was a snooze fest. Just a bunch of old men smoking and drinking.”

“I’m sure it’s a good show.” Maddie said, trying not to laugh at Billie’s bold statement.

“I’m not saying it’s bad but it’s not exactly a fun show for kids to watch. Not like the Walking Dead anyways.” Billie told her and Maddie smiled.

“I’ll watch it when I’m in my twenties then.” Maddie promised and Billie smiled back at her. It was then that an unsure look came over Maddie’s face. “Um...I know this is kind of weird but do you think I could maybe get a picture with you? I know you might get asked that a lot.” Billie immediately shook her head at the girl, a smile still on her face.

“Of course. It’s not a problem.” Billie said because she truthfully didn’t mind taking pictures with fans. She’d never understand what the big deal was but she was happy that she could make someone happy for a couple minutes. Maddie smiled happily before she brought her phone out and held it in front of them. They both posed for the picture, Billie with a smile on her face and Maddie with an even bigger smile on her own face. Maddie took a couple pictures before she finally pulled the phone away to look back down at it, admiring the pictures she had just taken.

“Do you think I could post these on Instagram later? My friends would think it’s so cool.” Maddie inquired and Billie smiled once more before nodding.

“From one child of divorce to another.” Billie said and Maddie told her thank you, with an excited grin on her face, before she immediately started looking at the pictures again. Billie’s smile faded as she watched the thirteen year old girl. She couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Maddie would probably contribute to society more than Billie ever would. Maddie could be a scientist, writer, or even an artist. Someone important. Not like Billie who didn't know how to do anything other than act. Acting which was the opposite of something important.

Billie only fell into acting because someone saw her at a shopping mall when she was a little girl. Coincidentally she had been attending children’s theater but Billie hadn’t been very good at acting at the time. She couldn’t even get the role of the reindeer in the Christmas play. Billie actually had that classic story of being spotted at a shopping mall by a talent scout. Her mom had been going to school in LA at the time and someone thought she’d be perfect for an open casting call for a commercial. It wasn’t actually that commercial that Billie had gotten the part for.

It was a couple commercials later when she got her first official job and then came Mad Men.

Billie’s mother hadn’t been sure about the whole actor thing. You always saw what happened to child actors like Lindsay Lohan and Drew Barrymore. It was enough to frighten any mother. However, even for an eight year old, Billie was very good at convincing people to do things. That and her mom just wanted to make her feel better after the divorce. Her mom would’ve given her anything she asked for after Billie’s dad left. Billie supposed her mom felt guilty for some reason.

The blonde actress only looked at the thirteen year old teenager for another moment before turning her head and looking at the back of the seat in front of her. The girl didn’t know how lucky she was, Billie thought to herself. She could do anything she wanted in the world. She could be anything she wanted. That was a feeling Billie gave up the moment she talked her mother into this whole thing. Billie just wondered what her life would be like if she hadn’t been spotted in that mall. Probably much different. She just didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing yet.

 

 

Billie’s flight arrived at the San Antonio International Airport on time. She bid Maddie goodbye and Maddie told her how excited she was to see the new Captain America movie when it came out. Billie watched as the girl raced off, probably to go find her father, before she headed off to the baggage claim to collect her luggage. The airport was bustling with people and not to mention it was a hot August day. Texas, especially San Antonio, was much hotter than Georgia and Billie even thought the humidity was worse. However, Billie was very used to the Texas sun at this point. Although she had lived in LA for a while when she filmed Mad Men, Billie had come back to Texas whenever she wasn’t filming for the show.

She considered herself born and raised in Texas.

As soon as Billie collected her luggage she headed out towards the other end of the airport terminal where her mom was waiting for her. Although Billie had spoken on the phone a lot with her mother, she hadn’t seen her mother in person since the beginning of the summer. It was the longest she had been away from her mother but she supposed she should get used to it with all the projects she was going to be taking on. Billie was going to be turning eighteen in several months so that meant she would get to be by herself a lot on set.

“Billie!” She heard her mother exclaim as she got off the escalator onto the main floor. A smile came over Billie’s face as she spotted her mother standing there waiting for her.

“Mom!” Billie said happily as she approached her mother. Sarah Aufderheide stood there beaming at her young daughter, the sunlight streaming in from one of the large windows and giving her a sort of glow. Sarah was a very young mother, only just having turned thirty three a few months ago. Well...she was a little young to have an almost grown up daughter and she looked even younger than her thirty three years. Billie’s grandfather said it was the German in them but Billie wasn’t so sure she believed him.

“How do you look even taller than before?” Her mother said as she embraced Billie, wrapping her tall daughter into a bear hug. Sarah was only a short height of 5’3 with Billie’s tall height of 5’9 looming over her.

“I’m the same height as before, Mom.” Billie told her mom as she rolled her eyes playfully before pulling away. It was only then that Billie spotted a very familiar older man standing next to her mother quietly. She raised her eyebrows as she grinned in excitement.

“Opa?!” Billie said as she looked at her grandfather in surprise.

Ulrich Aufderheide was a fifty seven year old German man from Munich. He was sort of a young grandfather himself, having only been forty when Billie was born although he hadn’t really been around for that. Billie’s grandfather and mother had been estranged from the time Sarah had gotten pregnant to the time Billie’s father had left.

They put their differences aside when Sarah became a single mother and Billie’s grandfather stepped up to the plate, watching Billie while Sarah worked and went to school. He even moved with them to LA so that Sarah could go to school while he made sure Billie was safe on the Mad Men set. Billie had actually grown very close to her grandfather in that time. She adored him.

“Mäuschen.” He said quietly as he gave her a small smile. Billie smiled at the childhood nickname he had given her.

Her grandfather was a very handsome man in a rugged sort of way. His hair, now gray, had once been as blonde as Billie and Sarah’s hair. A lot of Billie’s features were similar to her grandfather’s just with more femininity. Billie believed she had gotten her height from her grandfather too since her mother was short, having taken after her own mother, and her father hadn’t been impressively tall either. Billie’s grandfather stood at 6’6 which was an intimidating height for a man who was already imposing enough with his sea green eyes and constant silence.

“I didn’t know you would be here. I thought mom was just coming.” Billie said as she gave her grandfather a quick hug. He patted her on the back before moving away to look at her.

“I wanted to see you. It’s been a while.” Her grandfather told her, his German accent thick and pronounced as always. Sarah smiled excitedly as she looked between her daughter and father.

“Well, your grandfather and I actually have some exciting news for you.” Sarah announced as Billie looked at her mother curiously.

“What kind of news?” She asked and Sarah only briefly looked back at her father before looking to Billie once more.

“We weren’t going to tell you until I showed you the new house but your grandfather is moving to New Braunfels too.” Sarah told her much to Billie’s surprise. It wasn’t news to her that Billie and her mother were moving to New Braunfels. Sarah was opening up a clinic in New Braunfels with a friend but Billie didn’t know her grandfather was going to be moving there too. He lived in Lindale, like they did, after all.

Billie had originally planned on spending her senior year back in Lindale where she would live with her Aunt and Uncle but that was before she changed her mind. She was just going to continue on with her tutoring while she took on new projects. This was something Billie made her mother aware of a couple weeks ago. Her mom didn’t totally agree with the idea but she respected Billie’s decision in the end although Billie’s friends back in Lindale were a little disappointed about this. Even so, Billie thought she might go back and visit her friend during Christmas vacation.

“Your grandmother and I lived in New Braunfels when we came here from Germany. Your mother was born there before we moved to Lindale.” Ulrich informed her even though Billie already knew that. It wasn’t the fact that it was New Braunfels her grandfather was moving to that confused her. It was the fact that her grandfather was moving away from a small town to a city. Granted New Braunfels was nowhere near the size of San Antonio or Dallas but it was still way bigger than Lindale which was in the middle of nowhere. Her grandfather had always loved isolation and staying away from crowds of people. He and Billie were alike that way.

“There’s still a lot of Germans in New Braunfels. I have a lot of friends there too.” Her grandfather continued to explain.

“I know...I’m just surprised. This is a big shock.” Billie told him. Sarah just smiled at Billie and her grandfather gave her a short nod, being his usual grumpy self. Her mother always told her that she got her grumpiness from him but Billie always refused to believe her.

“Well, we’ll discuss it more in the car.” Sarah said as she and Billie’s grandfather started to walk towards the exit of the airport with Billie following suit. Her grandfather took some of her luggage from her without saying a word as her mother started rambling on as she normally did whenever she was excited. “Now you have to tell me everything that happened on set. You barely said anything on the phone and I’ve been dying to know how everything went.” Billie just smiled at her mother as they walked side-by-side, her grandfather quietly following them.

“Where do I even begin? Maybe with how old Downey’s looking these days. He’s really been packing on some pounds too.” Billie said as she smirked. She wouldn’t be Billie if she didn’t make fun of Robert. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea for Marvel to give him his own personal chef.” Billie heard her grandfather chuckle behind her but her mother just glared at her.

“Billie Madison Aufderheide. What have I told you about not being mean to that poor man?” Sarah scolded while Billie only rolled her eyes playfully. There would never be a day where Billie ever stopped giving her co-stars a hard time. Her mother should know that by now but even so...it was just nice to be home.

Nothing would ever feel quite like home to her like Texas.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie takes time to relax in Texas with her friends and family before she heads back to Los Angeles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This chapter took a little long but I was busy re-editing the entire story. There was a lot of typos and errors that I really wanted to fix but everything looks fine now. So there's one more chapter after this one and then we'll skip ahead a few months to early 2016 where we'll see Tom again. I'm really excited. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think of the chapter. Thanks again.
> 
> I also feel like I have to say something guys. Stan Lee passed away and my heart's officially broken. That man created the world of Marvel which we all love so much and I can't believe he's gone. He was a genius and I'm sure his memory will live on forever in the characters he created. RIP Stan Lee.

“I can’t believe you’re not coming back to Lindale.” Matteo Alvarez said tiredly as he and Billie were relaxing in their inner tubes in the Guadalupe River. Tubing was a common summer activity that Texans from Seguin and New Braunfels did to cool off. The Texas sun was blazing down on them and Billie knew it was in the late nineties. It was the kind of weather where you could cook an egg on the sidewalk.

The Guadalupe River was filled with Texans this time of year but no one bothered Billie. Sure, a couple of people asked her if she was that girl from the movies and other people stared at her for a minute before looking away but no one really bothered her. They said hello but didn’t even ask for a picture. This was why Billie loved Texas. No one ever bothered her there. Texans, outside the cities anyways, respected people’s privacy and Billie loved her fellow Texans for that.

“I was really excited to see you in an actual high school that wasn’t in the movies. Do you know how cool you’d be?” Matteo told her and Billie just smiled from behind her pair of designer sunglasses. 

She had only been in New Braunfels for two weeks so she was relaxing before she had to fly to Los Angeles. Billie had invited Matteo, her childhood friend from Lindale, to stay with her and her mother for her remaining week in New Braunfels. Billie and Matteo looked like the picture perfect sight of relaxation. Billie in her teal one piece Miu Miu bathing suit with floral patterns imprinted all over it and Matteo in his swimming trunks.

“I know, I know. I said I was going to go back for senior year and I disappointed you. Sorry.” Billie told him and Matteo just smirked at her.

“I don’t believe you. You’re never sorry about anything.” He told her and Billie’s smirk was unwavering as she looked back at him.

“But you still love me, don’t you, Matty?” Billie said teasingly and Matteo rolled his eyes at her.

“Begrudgingly.” Matteo muttered before going back to the topic at hand. “Look at you. Ditching us small town folks for Hollywood. Next thing you know you’ll be partying with the Kardashians and going to Taylor Swift’s Fourth of July bash.” A revolted look crossed the blonde’s face as she fought the urge to throw up.

“Gross.” She said bitterly. “Trust me. I’ll never be caught dead hanging out with the Kardashians and Swift.”

“Good to know.” He told her before a hopeful look crossed his face. “You know...if you want to make it up to me then maybe you can introduce me to Scarlett Johansson. I’ll never be mad at you again.” Billie rolled her eyes.

“You’re disgusting. She’s married with a kid.” Billie told him and Matteo just shrugged.

“Still...it doesn’t hurt to ask.” Matteo said sheepishly and Billie just shook her head. But then her friend seemed to take interest in something else. “So what celebrity gossip did you pick up on while on the set of only one of the biggest movies yet to come?”

“Since when do you care about celebrity gossip?” Billie questioned as she raised an eyebrow.

“Since my best friend’s a movie star that hangs out with other movie stars who actually have interesting lives.” Matteo told her and Billie scoffed.

“What? My life’s not interesting enough for you?” Billie asked sarcastically and Matteo shrugged.

“Nope. You don’t have any famous friends, no famous boyfriend, and you don’t go to any parties where the cool people hang out. Hence why you’re boring.” Matteo explained and Billie laughed.

“That’s not true. I’m friends with Tye.” Billie reminded him and Matteo sighed heavily.

Billie, was, of course, referring to her friend Tye Sheridan who she met on the set of Mud many years ago. They instantly clicked from the moment they met and they both found that they had a lot in common. What with being young in the industry but also both being Texans. Tye was from a small town not that far from where Billie and Matteo were from.

“Tye doesn’t count. He’s Tye.” Matteo retorted. “Why can’t you be friends with someone cool like Hailee Steinfeld or Chloe Grace Moretz?” Billie sighed in annoyance even though she knew Matteo was only teasing her. He was always making fun of her fame. Well, he had always teased her before she went to LA too. He treated her like an annoying little sister since they were infants.

Billie couldn’t remember Matteo not being in her life. Their mothers had known each other for a long time. Billie believed that Matteo’s mother used to be her own mother’s babysitter. She didn’t know if it was hard to believe or not but Billie didn’t have a lot of female friends. Billie had Nellie, her best friend from Los Angeles, but that was really it. She had always been a tomboy who got along better with boys than girls. This was probably why she handled being the only girl on the boy’s baseball team so well and one of the few women on the set of these Marvel movies too. She didn’t mind boys.

“Probably because I’ve never met Hailee Steinfeld or Chloe Grace Moretz.” Billie told him honestly. Matteo just smiled at her before going back to what they were discussing before.

“Well, my point is that your life is so boring I can’t even sell any sordid details about you to any gossip magazines.” Matteo joked and Billie childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

“Oh, very funny.” Billie said sarcastically before moving the conversation forward. “You want some gossip from the Civil War set? Fine. Downey’s a rich dork, Evans is an actual grandpa, and Chadwick Boseman is the hottest man to ever walk the face of the earth. There’s some gossip.”

“And Billie Aufderheide is actually Clint Eastwood trapped in a seventeen year old girl’s body.” Matteo retorted and Billie laughed again. It always seemed like Matteo was one of the few people who could make her laugh.

“Yeah, I bet the National Enquirer would buy that story.” Billie told him, an amused look on her face. “You should actually try selling that to them, Matty.”

“Wouldn’t it be funny if they bought it?” Matteo said in response and Billie nodded.

“Hilarious.” She confirmed before Matteo changed the subject.

“So how is the life of the rich and famous? Has Sebastian boned your mom yet?” Matteo asked bluntly and Billie’s eyes widened in surprise, a rare look for her, as the smile fell off her face. She was silent for a moment, still in shock from Matteo’s odd and disgusting remark, before she collected herself.

“Have you been talking to Anthony Mackie?” Billie asked knowingly. Matteo had a smug look on his face as he shrugged.

“We might’ve chatted for a minute or two at the Age of Ultron premiere. You took me as your date, remember?” Matteo reminded her as Billie continued to watch him in disbelief. “You were probably too busy flirting with Idris Elba to notice.” Billie huffed in annoyance.

“I don’t flirt.” Billie said sharply and Matteo rolled his eyes.

“You flirt with everyone. Don’t deny it.” He told her and Billie scoffed, a stubborn look on her face.

“Well, he didn’t flirt back.”

“Why would he? You’re seventeen and he’s forty something. It would’ve been really creepy if he flirted back.” Her friend told her and Billie gave him a dirty look. “Someone has daddy issues.”

“Whatever.” She muttered before deciding not to let Matteo distract her. Matty is so lucky that he’s not someone else or I would’ve slapped that stupid look off his face, Billie thought to herself. “For your information, my mom and Sebastian aren’t seeing each other.”

“That’s not what Anthony said. He said that Sebastian really has the hots for your mom.” Matteo continued to say teasingly, purposefully trying to get a rise out of the blonde. “He even said Sebastian was talking about a hypothetical situation where a guy asks his co-star’s mom out.” Billie shook her head furiously.

“Mackie’s full of shit. Sebastian never asked him that.” Billie said, denying what she probably already knew. She was a little bit aware of the fact that there was something going on between her mom and Sebastian. Billie definitely knew her mom found Sebastian attractive but her mom found many of her co-stars attractive. She worked with a lot of handsome movie stars so it wasn’t a surprise. Billie’s mom always blushed around Matthew McConaughey and Jon Hamm when Billie worked with them but it didn’t mean anything.

However, it seemed to be different with Sebastian for some reason. This was why Billie’s mom had actually let Billie spend the summer on set without her which was something she normally wouldn’t do. Deep down Billie thought her mom was actually avoiding Sebastian. For a while Billie thought the feeling wasn’t reciprocated by Sebastian but after spending a whole summer listening to him ask about her mom, she wasn’t so sure.

“You know...Sebastian could probably end up being your step-dad.” Matteo continued to tease but Billie was already tired of this conversation.

“Can we please talk about anything else?” Billie practically begged and Matteo just smirked before finally relenting and changing the subject as requested.

“So anything else interesting happen? What about that new guy? The British one.” Matteo inquired and Billie sighed although she was thankful for the change of subject.

“Tom’s okay, I guess. He’s really happy all the time which is annoying but he’s much better than those other assholes who auditioned.” Billie said, being her blunt self. “I mean, that Chalamet guy seemed cool but he’s too pretty. I’d look like a troll next to him and I don’t like my male co-stars looking prettier than me. Call me vain but my face is my money maker.”

“You’re so modest, Billie.” Matteo said sarcastically and Billie smirked.

“I’m a realist, Matty. You know that.” Billie said nonchalantly. “Anyways...everything went fine on set. I think there’s reshoots at the beginning of next year but that’s about it.”

“Oh, so nothing happened between you and the British guy then?” Matteo asked as he raised an eyebrow. Billie look at him in disbelief before scoffing.

“Me and ole’ Crumpets and Tea? Yeah, right. What drugs are you on, Matty?” Billie said defensively.

“You know, it’s okay if there is something going on. Tyler’s my friend and all but I know it’s not official with you two.” Matteo told her as he shrugged. “I just know that you complain about the British guy all the time on the phone.”

“Since when did complaining about a guy automatically mean that I like him? It usually means the opposite of that.” Billie informed him and Matteo smirked.

“I’m not interested in dating co-stars. Mixing business with pleasure is always a bad idea.” Billie told him, sounding more like an adult than a teenage girl. “Besides...he’s not my type.”

“And how is he not your type?” Matteo asked her and Billie raised her eyebrows at him.

“God, you sound like a girl.” Billie told him, causing the teenage boy to glare at her. “And he’s not my type because he’s British, silly, and a pretty boy. He also seems obsessed with documenting his entire life on social media. Gross. Besides...you know that I don’t like pretty boys, Matty. I doubt that boy could even grow anything that resembles a mustache.”

“Oh my god, Billie. You sound ridiculous.” Matteo told her as he rolled his eyes at his cynical friend. “And I’m only asking because I was wondering if he knew Emma Watson or Ellie Goulding. I was wondering if he could introduce me.”

“Yes, because all the famous British people hang out in a pub together in London.” Billie said sarcastically and Matteo gave her a surprised look.

“Really?” He asked and Billie looked at him like he was stupid.

“Of course not.” Billie told him much to Matteo’s disappointment. “I’m not in any shape to date anyways. I’m not even talking about Harry Potter but Tyler. I don’t think it’s going to work out with me and Tyler.” Matteo frowned.

“Why not?” He asked. “And this is strictly not girl talk by the way. This is just a concerned person worrying about their best friend.” Billie sighed heavily before answering.

“Because I’m busy and I’m probably not going back to Lindale for a while. Even when I do go back there, I won’t be there for long.” Billie said but that wasn’t the only reason she wasn’t interested in dating at the moment. She had broken up with her boyfriend, who was also her first, a few months ago and it hadn’t ended well.

Billie was a little sick of men at the moment.

She didn’t mean that she was interested in girls or anything but she just meant that she was sick of dating for the time-being. It was a cynical ideal for a girl her age to have but Billie had been pretty torn up over her last boyfriend who could win the award for Asshole of the Year.

No one really knew about him either.

Everyone thought her boyfriend had been an actor, about a year older than her, who had a guest star role on Mad Men which was true to a point. She had gone on a couple dates with the actor in question but he wasn’t the one who was her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was someone she never really introduced her friends and family. It was kind of like a secret.  
That’s what he always said anyways.

“I get it. You just want some time to yourself to get your career going and everything. It makes perfect sense.” Matteo said, breaking Billie out of her thoughts. She felt a wave of calmness wash over her as she realized that she wasn’t back in Los Angeles with her ex but she was instead in Texas, floating down the river in her inner tube with all the other Texans.

“I don’t know if it’s much of a career. It’s just acting, Matty. It’s not a big deal.” Billie told him, shrugging off his statement. Her friend then gave her a doubtful look.

“You can pretend not to take your career seriously but I know you care. You don’t have to act cool around me.” He told her knowingly and Billie just smiled back at him, realizing he knew her better than most people. It was nice to have a friend like that. Someone who didn’t care who she was and who called her out on her shit. This was why she didn’t like having many friends in Hollywood. Tye was an exception but in her experience there was a lot of suck-ups in Hollywood. Billie didn’t have patience for people like that.

“Thanks, Matty.” Billie said softly before he returned her smile. He then went on to discuss everything that had been happening in Lindale recently. All the juicy gossip that Billie didn’t really care about but she listened to him anyways just to keep her mind off everything else. She just wanted to relax. She didn’t want to reminisce or talk. This was supposed to be her last week before she went back to work again. If she was a normal girl then this would’ve been her last week of summer before she left for college. Billie just never thought there was a world in which making a raunchy comedy with Seth Rogen and Zac Efron was her version of college.

 

 

“Billie, you know what would look really good on you?” Sarah Aufderheide asked as she brushed her daughter’s long blonde hair. 

They were in the living room of the new house in New Braunfels. Billie’s grandfather was renting an apartment not that far from the house but he decided to let them have a girl’s night while he caught up with some old friends of his. Matteo was still there but he was passed out in the guest bedroom after a long day out in the sun so Billie and her mom were just having some mother/daughter time before she had to leave for Los Angeles. 

“What?” Billie asked her without taking her eyes off the TV screen. They were currently binge watching The Mindy Project again in honor of Billie’s guest appearance she was going to film next week. 

“If you dip dyed your hair. I was thinking maybe hot pink or blue.” Her mother suggested much to Billie’s disgust. She scoffed.

“I’m not going to dip dye my hair.” Billie grumbled, easily amusing her mother with her usual unpleasant attitude.

“Why not?” Sarah questioned.

“Because I’d look like an idiot, Mom.” Billie told her and her mom rolled her eyes. 

“I don’t know what your problem is, Billie. Lots of teenage girls are doing this. Reese Witherspoon’s daughter did it and I think she looks great.” Sarah told her seriously and this time Billie rolled her eyes.

“Well, great for Reese Witherspoon’s daughter.” Billie said sarcastically and Sarah just laughed because she knew there was no point in arguing with Billie. She was so stubborn. She reminded her of Sarah's father who was equally as stubborn and grumpy. 

Sarah then finished brushing Billie’s hair and set the brush down to the side. She glanced over her daughter as she couldn’t help but remark at how much Billie had grown up. It didn’t feel like it had been that long ago when she was pregnant with her and now Billie was almost an adult. A very famous actress too which Sarah never would’ve imagined but maybe it didn’t surprise her either. Billie had always been a unique child...never shy or invisible in the least which was the opposite of what Sarah had been like as a child. 

Billie was the kind of person who walked into the room and people seemed to gravitate towards her, instantly amused by her grouchy demeanor and charmed by her East Texan drawl which was rare in Hollywood. Most actors from Texas seemed to shed their accents unless they were Matthew McConaughey but not Billie. She was adamant about not getting rid of her accent. Sarah thought it was because she was afraid it would mean leaving a part of herself behind. Either way, Sarah was proud that her daughter wasn’t destined to lose herself in the spotlight. Sarah didn’t think she could bear it if Billie wasn’t herself anymore.

“I was just suggesting something in case you were thinking of trying something new.” Sarah said, defending herself even though she was thoroughly amused by Billie. “Don’t be a grumpy little gator.”

“Mom, I’m an almost an adult. Stop calling me that.” Billie whined, not really sounding like an adult like she claimed to be. Sarah rolled her eyes. It seemed like it didn’t matter what age you were or if you were the fun, cool mom. Your daughter would still find some way to find you embarrassing.

“Almost an adult doesn’t make you an adult.” Sarah pointed out as she frowned. “And please do me a huge favor by not making me into a nagging mother. I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t.” 

“Sorry.” Billie said as she mumbled what was supposed to be an apology but not quite. “Sometimes I just feel like everyone’s always treating me like a child.” Sarah’s gaze softened as she sighed.

“But Billie...you are a child.” Sarah told her daughter affectionately. “Remember what I made you promise me when you were a little girl? About not growing up too fast?” Billie nodded.

“Yes and I know.” Billie said, looking tired. “I was already two when you were my age. I get it.” 

“I just don’t want you making the same mistakes I did. Not that you’re a mistake because you’re not but I had no business having a child at sixteen. No one does.” Sarah told Billie honestly as the blonde actress listened to her mother intently. 

“You’re an amazing mother.” Billie murmured softly and Sarah smiled before continuing to give her daughter advice.

“I just want to make sure you know you have a choice. You don’t have to go off to Los Angeles and skip your last chance of having a normal high school experience.” Sarah said, trying to talk Billie out of leaving Texas. “You can stay here. You don’t have to go to Lindale either. I can just enroll you at the high school here in New Braunfels. It’s not a problem.” Billie sighed heavily because she had already made up her mind.

“I know, Mom, but I don’t think I could ever go to high school with all those other kids. Especially not a new high school. I’d be a spectacle.” Billie said bluntly but honestly. “I don’t want to draw attention to myself. I just want some peace for once.” Sarah fell silent for a moment as she stared at her daughter long and hard before letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

“Sometimes I wish I hadn’t let you do that show.” Sarah said softly as Billie looked back at her curiously. “At the time I knew it was a bad decision and I shouldn’t let you because just look at what happened to poor Drew Barrymore...but you just seemed so happy and excited. I hadn’t seen you that happy and excited since before your father left.”

“Mom…” Billie trailed off, not knowing what else to say but Sarah just continued.

“You were so sad back then so how could I tell you no?” Sarah said sadly, tears flooding her big blue eyes. “And then everything happened so fast. I just thought it would be one small role but then Sally’s time on the show got longer and you got more scenes...and then you got auditions for these huge movies. You were the happiest I had ever seen you be in a long time so I never told you no.”

“Mom, don’t start. You’re not a bad mother. You’re the best.” Billie argued, trying to not let her mother feel terrible.

“What if I’m not, Billie? What if I’m just like one of those stages moms?” Sarah questioned, second guessing herself. Billie scoffed before shaking her head.

“Don’t be stupid. You’re not a stage mom. You’re like the opposite of a stage mom.” Billie told her mother. “You’re an anti-stage mom. You never made me do anything I didn’t want to do. You gave up so much for me just because I wanted to do this. You’re a great mother. Don’t convince yourself otherwise.”

“I just...well, I don’t know if I made a really bad decision or not when it comes to you.” Sarah told her as she tried to decide whether or not she made a mistake. “All this time I’ve been trying to tell you not to grow up too fast but maybe I took your childhood away myself when I decided to let you do that show.” Billie considered her mother’s point thoughtfully before shaking her head.

“You didn’t take my childhood away.” Billie told her mother. She wanted to tell her mother that it wasn’t her that had stolen her childhood away. It had been all the fucked up men in her life. Between her father and her ex, Billie knew they had enough credit to take for that between the both of them. However, she didn’t tell her mother yet. She didn’t want to upset her anymore. “I’m fine. From what Matteo tells me about high school, I’m not exactly missing anything.”

“I guess you’ve always been more mature than kids your own age.” Sarah told her, finally deciding to stop blaming herself much to Billie’s relief. “I think you’re even more mature than me.”

“I know I am.” Billie told her, not looking disappointed in the least bit by this information. She just smiled at her mother but her mother still looked concerned.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Sarah asked worriedly. “I can still go. I can get Mary to cover things while I’m gone.” Billie just sighed before shaking her head.

“I’ll be fine, Mom. Opa’s coming with me and besides...you’ve already sacrificed so much for me. You deserve to open the clinic and fulfill your dream. You really do.” Billie reassured her mother and it was then that her mother finally caved in, deciding to listen to Billie and feel reassured that Billie was going to be just fine. It’s not like Billie was going to be alone either. Her grandfather was going to be with her.

“Okay. I guess you’re right.” Sarah admitted and Billie smirked at her.

“I know I’m right.” Billie told her before Sarah remembered something else that had been bothering her. Well, not really bothering her but maybe confusing her in the very least.  
“Speaking of going back to LA, I was just wondering if you were really serious about the Seth Rogen movie you’re going off to shoot.” Sarah said as she changed the subject much to Billie’s relief. “I know you’re still in negotiations. Luke keeps calling me about it and I know I’m going to have to sign off on it soon. Do you really want me to okay the movie?” Billie just gave her an odd look.

“Why wouldn’t I want you to okay the movie?” Billie asked in confusion. Since Billie was still technically a minor, her mom had to sign off on literally every movie she signed on to do. Especially R-rated films. Billie couldn’t wait until the day she turned eighteen. Not because she was eager to get away from home or anything but because there was so much paperwork involved since she was still a minor.

“I just find it odd you’re suddenly eager to do one of those Seth Rogen raunchy comedies. I thought you said you hated those movies?” Sarah questioned and it was true. 

Billie wasn’t a fan of those sorts of comedies. 

Comedies that were mostly only funny to men or stoners. Billie certainly hadn’t really liked the first Neighbors movie so it may have seemed weird that she was agreeing to do the sequel. She had to admit she was a bit surprised when Luke, her agent, told her that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg really wanted her to star in the sequel. Billie was only agreeing to do it because she hadn’t really starred in a comedy before...not in a leading role anyways and she didn’t even have to audition for the role. 

They were just giving the part to her which was a first for her. 

Usually she had to audition for a role but not this time. Billie wondered if this was what it felt like to be Robert Downey Jr. who probably hadn’t auditioned for a role in years. Probably. Anyways...apparently Chloe Grace Moretz had dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts so they went to their second choice for the role in the film which was her. Billie realized this was the third time she was offered something Chloe Grace Moretz had turned down although Billie had previously turned down the role in Carrie which Chloe took up. It was funny how Hollywood worked. 

“I don’t really like them, that’s true, but I read the script and I like how unusually feminist it is for one of these movies.” Billie explained to her mother. “A group of girls trying to start their own feminist, hard partying sorority? That’s fine by me.” 

“As long as you don’t go method and take the role too seriously if you know what I mean.” Sarah told her, giving her daughter a serious look. Billie smiled and nodded.

“I won’t.” Billie promised before smirking. “Don’t worry. This character in the movie is the exact opposite of me. She couldn’t be more different than I am and she’s everything I hate...which is why I want to play her in this movie.” Sarah gave her daughter an odd look, knowing that she was never going to have a normal daughter. It’s not like Sarah wanted Billie to be normal anyways. She just wanted Billie to be herself.

“Just make sure your grandfather’s always around.” Sarah made her promise and Billie nodded.

“I know.” Billie told her mother who only nodded in response before a nervous look came over her face. Billie looked at her mother curiously because she wondered what her mother was going to say now.

“So everything really was fine on the set back in Atlanta? Chris kept an eye on you?” Sarah inquired as she changed the subject once more and Billie gave her an odd look.

“Yeah. It was annoying, actually. Every night he’d come by my room to make sure I wasn’t up to no good.” Billie said, looking very unamused by her co-star’s behavior. “I don’t know what he thought I was doing in there. It’s not like I was smoking weed or having sex with random guys. All I did was read books and watch Netflix.” Sarah huffed in annoyance.

“Billie, don’t be so crude.” She scolded her daughter who only shrugged.

“Anyways...yes, in case you were wondering, I was behaving myself.” Billie told her mother, knowing that was what she wanted to hear.

“Everyone else on set is doing okay then? How’s Anthony? Scarlett’s doing well too?” Her mother inquired before hesitating. “Sebastian?” Billie only rolled her eyes.

“Sebastian’s fine, Mom. I know that’s the only person you actually care about.” Billie told her mother knowingly. Sarah only blushed in response.

“I didn’t say that.” Sarah denied much to Billie’s amusement.

“He was asking about you too, you know.” Billie added, causing her mother’s eyes to widen in surprise. “He wanted to know where you were and how you were doing.”

“Really?” Sarah questioned in disbelief and Billie rolled her eyes again.

“No, I’m lying.” Billie said sarcastically before speaking in a more serious voice. “Of course he asked that. Mom, he asks about you all the time.”

“Well, we are friends, aren’t we? That’s probably why.” Her mother told her and Billie groaned in frustration.

“Honestly, you two sound like you’re in high school or something. It’s annoying.” Billie told her mother in an annoyed tone. “You know what? I don’t even care how weird it is that my co-star is super into my mom. Just date or whatever. I’m tired of this awkwardness.”

“He’s probably not interested. Why would he? He’s a movie star and-” Sarah started to ramble on and Billie interrupted her before she could go on.

“You’re hot, Mom.” Billie told her mother bluntly. It was probably weird to call your mother hot but whatever. Billie needed to make a point to her mom and she always knew how beautiful her mother was. As a little girl, Billie wanted nothing more than to be as beautiful as her mother someday. In all honesty, Billie thought her mother could’ve been a movie star herself if she wanted. “You’re actually out of his league. I even caught Adam Levine checking you out at the Begin Again premiere a couple years ago. Celebrity or not, men notice you.”

“Adam Levine?” Sarah asked in surprise and Billie sighed heavily.

“Yeah, I had to trip him at that press junket but it’s his own stupid fault. He’s fucking married so he should know better.” Billie told her and Sarah gave her a warning look.

“I’m still not cool with you using that kind of language in the house, Billie.” Her mother scolded and Billie rolled her eyes yet again. “And you shouldn’t trip celebrities. It’s rude.”

“Whatever. My point is that you’re an amazing woman who’s incredibly smart and independent. You’re a fucking doctor for Christ’s sake and you’ve done it all on your own. He should be so lucky to go out with you.” Billie told her mother honestly as she tried give her more confidence.

“Wouldn’t that be weird? He’s your co-star and I don’t want to make you feel weird. It’s probably the same thing as dating your teacher, right?” Sarah asked her but Billie just shook her head.

“It’s more awkward when Sebastian asks me about you the whole summer in not-so-subtle ways and it’s even more awkward when you ask me about him.” Billie told her honestly. “It’s so obvious that there’s something going on between you two that it sickens me. Just get it over with and date.”

Sarah blushed as she tried not to think of Sebastian right at that moment. She knew she had feelings for the handsome actor but she never acted on any of them because she feared that she would embarrass Billie in some way and she also didn’t think he felt the same way.

“Okay but only if he makes it clear that he feels the same way.” Sarah said in a small voice and Billie sighed because in some situations, she felt like the parent. Not because her mother was immature but because she was insane. It’s not like she would be asking Sebastian to prom. They were both adults. You would think they would act like adults in this circumstance.

“Well, when Sebastian finally grows a pair of balls and asks you out then you’ll know that I’m cool with it.” Billie told her with her with her usual bluntness as Sarah gave her a warning look as always. “I won’t bother with the “you hurt her, I hurt you” speech since Opa will probably have that covered.”

Sarah rolled her eyes at her daughter before changing the subject. She didn’t really want to discuss her love life with her daughter anymore. It was very embarrassing and not to mention weird since Sebastian was technically Billie’s co-worker.

“So what’s going on with your love life anyways?” Sarah asked her with a knowing smirk on her face. She already knew she was going to annoy her daughter to death with this topic of conversation. “First, all I hear about is Tyler this and Tyler that but now I’ve been hearing about this British boy too. Tell me about him, Billie. Is he cute like what Robert was telling me?”

“I’m not doing this with you, Mom.” Billie told her mother harshly as she glared at her but Sarah’s wasn’t offended. She knew her daughter too well to take her seriously when she was like this. “Wait a minute...since when have you been talking to Downey?”

“Since I decided to give you some independence and let you spend the summer alone in Atlanta. You didn’t honestly think I wouldn’t check in on you with the others?” Sarah told her before a teasing look came over her face. Billie just stared at her in disbelief. “So...who’s cuter? Tyler or Tom?”

“Fucking Downey.” Billie grumbled and Sarah gave her daughter a warning look. Oh, well...Billie knew she was in for it now. Robert just had to blab to her mom about her new co-star.

She really didn’t get what the whole big deal was.

Just because they were close in age didn’t mean that they were going to fall in love and ride off into the sunset together. Billie was very set in her ways and she didn’t think she would ever date another actor even if she did happen to like Tom that way which she didn’t. In Billie’s experience, actors were very vain and egotistical. Billie would know since she considered herself to be a bit vain and at times arrogant as well. Besides...you always saw all those Hollywood romances that were doomed from the start. Sometimes there just wasn’t enough room in a relationship for two egos let alone one.

So you could see why she didn’t have any interest in actors.

Actors just weren’t her type so she would appreciate it if people stopped trying to pair her off with every eligible actor in Hollywood. She knew her fans were a very passionate bunch but she was fine with being single and she was fine not dating an actor. For some reason her fans, and people associated with those celebrity gossip magazines, seemed obsessed with matching her up with some handsome actor. She’d prefer it if they just focused on their own lives instead of hers.

No, she wasn’t dating Ansel Elgort nor was she interested in dating Asa Butterfield. Nothing ever went on between her and her Let Me In co-star Kodi Smit-McPhee because she was only fucking eleven when they worked together. Eleven! And Billie especially had no desire to go out with Nat Wolff who she spoke to one time at an award show yet somehow people were convinced they were dating. Her mother was her date to the award show for fuck’s sake. Billie didn’t pick up random guys in her mother’s company.

What kind of girl did they take her for?

“Billie, look, it’s the episode with Laura Dern.” Her mother pointed out, breaking Billie out of her thoughts. The blonde returned her attention to the TV as she decided to leave her thoughts behind. She just hoped that the show distracted her mom enough to get her to drop the Tom and Tyler thing. Billie didn’t feel enduring anymore teasing about the subject of her own currently non-existent love life. That was the last thing Billie felt like discussing.

Besides...men were the least of her problems right now. She was about to leave to go focus on her acting career. She needed to focus on getting her last school credits to graduate and she needed to focus on her work too. Those were the two most important things in her life right now and Billie was finally taking acting seriously.

Well, she had always taken it seriously because she was a professional person but for the first time Billie was finally serious about this being her career path. There wasn’t going to be any college or a gap year, this was Billie’s future and she finally felt like she was making the right decision for herself. If anything, making decisions made her feel like the independent young adult she was becoming.

“I almost forgot she was on The Mindy Project.” Billie mentioned as she engaged in the show she and her mother were watching. Yes, it was true that Billie was focused on her work and school right now but she was excited for what was to come. Some of the projects she had in store weren’t a sure thing yet but Billie had a good feeling about them. This was going to be good for her. She just knew it.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie finally leaves Los Angeles and gets the role of her dreams before getting even more good news from Marvel Studios.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So still no Tom in this chapter but he'll be back next chapter. This chapter kind of sets up the next chapter and then it'll skip ahead a few months. 
> 
> I just wanted to mention the meaning of Billie's German nickname that her grandfather gave her "Mäuschen" which means "Little Mouse". He'll call her that quite often so it's important to know for the story. 
> 
> Let me know what you think of this chapter. Thanks!!!

“You have everything then?” A teary eyed Sarah Aufderheide asked her daughter. The Aufderheide family were currently back at the San Antonio International Airport with Matteo tagging along. Billie and her grandfather had just checked in their bags at the front desk so now it was time for good-byes. If Billie signed on to do Neighbors 2 while she was in LA that would mean she would be away for even longer. Neighbors 2 would be a month and a half long shoot in Georgia. Billie wondered why all the big blockbusters seemed to be filmed in Georgia these days. Not that she was complaining. It was better than LA.

“It’s a little late to ask that, Mom. Opa and I just checked in our luggage.” Billie informed her very emotional looking mother. She was in a little bit of a mood because she had really wanted to fly first class this time but since her grandfather was a stubborn old man, he absolutely refused and instead got them seats in coach. He told her it was fine for her to fly first class but why the hell would she fly in first class when he was in coach? She wasn’t going to leave her grandfather alone on the plane.

“I’m just trying to make sure. You’ll probably head off to Georgia after The Mindy Project and the auditions so you’ll be away for a while.” Her mother told her and Billie smiled sadly at her.

“I know but Opa and I will try to make it back for Thanksgiving.” Billie told her and Sarah nodded.

“If not then I’ll fly up to you guys.” Sarah told both her father and daughter. It wasn’t extremely busy in the airport since Billie and her grandfather were flying out on a weekday. Billie was also glad to see that there weren’t any paparazzi at the airport. There never seemed to be paparazzi at the San Antonio International Airport. Not like LAX or JFK anyways.

“Okay.” Billie said simply.

“Mach dir keine Sorgen. Ich werde ein Auge auf sie haben (Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on her).” Billie’s grandfather said in German. Sarah smiled at him.

“Thank you, Papa.” Sarah told him while Billie just glared at the both of them.

“Sie wissen, dass ich Deutsch verstehen kann, richtig(You do know that I can understand German, right)?” Billie said in perfect German. Her mother just laughed while her grandfather looked amused.

“It’ll just be me and you, Mäuschen.” Her grandfather told her affectionately. Billie smiled back at him before returning her gaze to her mother who still looked a bit emotional. Her gaze softened as she looked at her mother.

“I’m going to be fine, Mom. I’ve got Opa, I’ll get those last couple high school credits, and I’ll focus on my work.” Billie told her, trying to make her mother feel better but her mother only shook her head.

“I’m just going to miss you so much.” Sarah practically cried as she then latched onto Billie abruptly, ambushing her with a hug. Billie stood there awkwardly for a moment before returning her mother’s hug. If there was one difference between Billie and her mother, it was the fact that her mother was a lot more comfortable with sharing her emotions than Billie was. Billie strongly believed in the concept of bottling everything up and ignoring your feelings.

“Don’t make a scene. I was gone for the whole summer and you never freaked out like this. Don’t worry. I’ll facetime you every night.” Billie told her comfortingly before Sarah pulled away so she could look Billie in the eyes. Billie gave her mother a sympathetic look as she noticed the tears streaming down her face.

“But that was summer.” Sarah pointed out. “I’m just now realizing that this is probably the equivalent of you going off to college. Is this how those moms in those back-to-school commercials feel?” Billie laughed but shook her head.

“I’m not going to college, remember?” Billie reminded her. “I’m just going to be playing a character who's going to college.” Sarah sniffled but nodded, smiling at her daughter.

“I know. I’m just realizing that you’re growing up and it’s really hard for me.” Sarah told her truthfully and Billie suddenly looked bashful which was unusual for her. She was always sort of bashful whenever her mother or really anyone showered her with affection like that. Any sort of affection made Billie uncomfortable. Especially in public. “My grumpy little gator.”

“Mom!” Billie said in annoyance as Matteo laughed at her. She resisted the urge to glare at him. She couldn’t believe she was friends with such an idiot.

“I love you.” Sarah said softly and the annoyed look fell off Billie’s face as she looked back at her mother. Billie smiled at her.

“I love you too.” Billie told her before her attention was taken away by Matteo who was no longer laughing but had a somewhat wistful look on his face.

“I’ll miss you, I guess.” Matteo told her and Billie smirked.

“I’ll miss you too, Matty.” She told him and they didn’t hug. Billie and Matteo weren’t the hugging kind of friends.

“See if you can get me Selena Gomez’s phone number when you go off to film that Seth Rogen movie.” He told her, taking any sweetness out of the moment...if there was any sweetness to begin with, that is. Billie scoffed.

“Well, she seems to have a terrible taste in men so you might just be her type if you play your cards right, Alvarez.” Billie said insultingly, causing Matteo to laugh but her mother to give her a scolding look.

“Billie, you can talk that way here but when you’re on that set, I don’t want you to be giving any of those people a hard time.” Sarah warned her as Billie was forced to listen to her mom. “I don’t care if you hate their music or acting. They’re probably nice people so you’ll show them respect and be polite.” Billie rolled her eyes but nodded.

“Yes, I’ll be perfectly pleasant to Miss Gomez, Mr. Rogen, and Mr. Efron.” Billie said, sounding sarcastic but she was actually being serious. Her mom had a point. She might not have been a Selena Gomez fan or a fan of Zac Efron and Seth Rogen’s movies but they might not be assholes in real life so Billie didn’t need to be an asshole either. Besides...Seth Rogen was just handing her the part without any audition whatsoever because he really wanted her in this movie.

The studio was offering her 1.5 million dollars for the part and it was rare that an actress her age got paid that much for a movie. Well, she got two million for Civil War but that was a Marvel movie and not to mention most of the other actors got paid much more which made sense since Scarlett, Jeremy, Chris, and Robert were veterans in the MCU and she was still new to the game. The least she could do was show that she was grateful and not act like a snob around her new co-stars. Billie didn’t want to become the type of actress who thought she was better than everyone else. That was actually her worst nightmare.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” Sarah told her daughter before looking sad once more. She would’ve leaned down to kiss her on the forehead like she used to when Billie was little but then she realized she couldn’t. She couldn’t because Billie was too tall now. Billie was several inches taller than Sarah which also made Sarah realize that Billie wasn’t a little girl anymore. She was a young woman.

It should’ve hurt her that Billie didn’t seem sad to leave her behind but it didn’t. That was because Billie had always been like that. She had always been independent and fine with being by herself. On Billie’s first day of kindergarten, the young girl had walked right into the classroom without looking back. Sarah had been the only one crying that day. When it was Billie’s first day on the set of Mad Men, she wasn’t shy and quiet like the actor who played her younger brother on the show. She talked to January Jones and Jon Hamm like it was nothing and asked them about a million questions.

Yes, it didn’t escape Sarah’s notice that Billie was very independent and more than capable of being without her. Sarah was sure Billie would be fine but that didn’t mean that she would miss her any less.

“Stay close to your grandfather.” Sarah told her one last time. Billie rolled her eyes but smiled at her mother.

“I will, Mom. Don’t worry.” She reassured her and Sarah just nodded as she looked up at her.

“We should get going. We still need to get through security.” Billie’s grandfather said gently, trying to get the mother and daughter to finally part from each other. If they didn't leave now then they’d never leave. Sarah smiled at her daughter one last time.

“Call me when you land at LAX.” Sarah made her promise and Billie nodded. “And take care of your grandfather too.” Ulrich Aufderheide glared at his daughter and granddaughter.

“I don’t need to be taken care of.” He grumbled but he went ignored by the two women in his life.

“I will.” She promised and Billie felt her grandfather begin to tug on her arm, signaling that they really needed to leave. Sarah just watched her daughter leave in silence as the tall blonde turned around and walked away with her grandfather. A tear fell from her eyes as she realized, yes, this was exactly what it felt like when your child left home for the first time.

 

 

The differences between San Antonio and LA were obvious.

Billie knew this from the moment she and her grandfather headed for the exit of the airport where the paparazzi were already waiting them. They were always waiting there. They weren’t ever waiting for anyone in particular. No, they just camped out at the front of LAX all day and night to see if anyone famous came by.

The airport in San Antonio was the polar opposite. The front entrance was empty, making an easy exit and entrance for passengers. The same could not be said for LAX. It was just one on the list of many reasons why she would never live in LA. She absolutely hated everything about it and never went there unless she had to. New York she could tolerate but LA was something else.

Billie and her grandfather stepped outside the doors, luggage in tow, and were immediately met by flashing cameras and loud shouting she couldn’t quite make out.

“How are you, Billie?!” One of them shouted as her grandfather did his best to shield her from the camera flashes like he was her bodyguard rather than her grandfather.

“Are you sad Mad Men’s over?!” Another screamed at her as she was blinded with another flash.

“Hey, Billie, are you and Nat Wolff dating?!” Yet another one screamed and Billie so badly wanted to flip them off but her publicist told her a long time ago that she couldn’t do that. Her grandfather then quickly ushered her into the car that was waiting for them. The studio that was distributing Neighbors 2 was being extra accommodating while in the process of negotiations. Billie was pretty sure within the next week or two, she’d officially sign on to do the movie.

Her grandfather slammed the car door shut behind them but the paparazzi were unrelenting in their pursuit of photos of her. Billie’s grandfather did his best to shield her from the cameras but there was only so much he could do as they waited for the driver to finish up loading the luggage into the trunk.

“They’re like fucking vultures.” Billie stated as she glared at the back of the driver’s seat. She knew she had to tolerate this bullshit. Her job was a gift but it also came with a price. Yes, it sucked that Billie, who considered herself to be a private person, was now in the media spotlight all the time but she liked the money and the work so she just had to accept everything that came with it. Even the fucking vultures who called themselves journalists.

“Do you want me to beat them up for you, Mäuschen?” Her grandfather asked her, undisturbed by her cursing. He never really cared about whether or not she cursed unlike her mother. Billie gave him a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I’ll be fine, Opa.” Billie told him just when the driver finally got back into the car, not hesitating as he started the car and quickly drove out of there. Her grandfather fell silent as he quietly looked out the window at all the sights in Los Angeles. Billie felt a wave of calmness wash over her as they drove away from the paparazzi.

It’s not like Billie had a choice anyways. She’d just have to find a way to make herself be fine with it.

That was the harsh truth of it all.

 

 

It was about two weeks later when Billie was called in to have lunch with Kevin Feige, a couple producers from Marvel Studios, and some unnamed people that Kevin didn’t want to tell her about over the phone. Billie had finished filming her guest appearance on The Mindy Project last week which had been a fun experience for her. She didn’t tend to fangirl over celebrities too often but Billie would be lying if she said she hadn’t fangirled over Mindy Kaling who was amazing. The woman was just so creative and talented that Billie couldn’t help but obsess over her just a little...or maybe a lot.

This week had been a week full of auditions. She auditioned for Split yet again but only this time doing a screen test with James McAvoy who had already been cast in one of the lead roles. It had been a thrilling process for her since James McAvoy was yet another actor she held a lot of admiration for. The audition went well and by the end of it, M. Knight Shyamalan told her that she had the part so now the studio was in negotiations with her agency to talk about her pay for the film before she signed on officially. Billie didn’t really care how much she got paid. She was just so happy she got the part because she was really in love with the script. Now that she had the part, however, she couldn’t wait to start shooting the movie. It would be a couple months though. Billie would just have to muster up the patience to wait.

The Ready Player One audition was still up in the air but Billie was just happy she got Split.

Billie had already officially signed on to do Neighbors 2 and they had announced her casting yesterday so Billie was due to fly down to Georgia in a couple days. She was a little excited to be working with new people again and she was even a little excited to be doing something new too since Billie had never starred in a comedy before. It was a new experience she couldn’t wait for.

The tall blonde and her grandfather then walked into a very lavish and expensive restaurant in the wealthier part of LA. Billie looked around at all the extravagant looking decor and wrinkled her nose in disgust. This was probably the kind of place that served three course meals with the tiniest looking food you had ever seen. Billie wasn’t a big fan of those kinds of places. If you came all this way to eat at such an expensive place then you better get your money’s worth. Billie expected a full fledged meal if you were going to fork over that much money for a meal.

The hostess at the front of the restaurant seemed to immediately recognize Billie as she smiled at both her and her grandfather. Well, that was a relief. At least she didn’t have to prove she was who she said she was.

“Miss Aufderheide, Mr. Feige and the others are waiting in a more private area of the restaurant.” The hostess explained as she quickly began to lead Billie and her grandfather to the back of the very expensive and trendy restaurant. Billie was sure Hollywood A-Listers frequented the place all the time. She could just picture Adam Levine and Leonardo DiCaprio eating there.

“Just through here.” The hostess said as she led the actress and her grandfather to a private room in the back that was just as lavish looking as the rest of the restaurant. A long table was situated in the private room and seated at it were two very familiar people. One being Kevin Feige and the other being Robert Downey Jr.

That fucking explained so much.

Billie didn’t really think this restaurant was Kevin’s scene but it was definitely Robert’s scene. Just when she thought she had gotten rid of him for a year, here he was again to remind her of just how much he knew about her. Billie knew he wasn’t the type to hold it over her but she was uncomfortable with people knowing that much personal information about her. It was why she was so anti-social media...well, anti-social in all aspects.

“Thank you.” Billie managed to say to the hostess as she and her grandfather were left in the room to their own devices while everyone stared back at them including a couple of unfamiliar faces and one of the executive producers from Marvel Studios.

“Texas, so glad to see you could make it.” Robert greeted affectionately as he grinned at her from behind his tinted shades. Billie just stared at him.

“Why are you wearing sunglasses inside, Hollywood? I didn’t know you were moonlighting as Alex Turner.” Billie said sarcastically and Robert shook his head in amusement. Well, it was good to see that Billie was her usual unpleasant self. At least Robert knew she was doing okay.

“I know you think I don’t know who that is because I’m old and lame but you’re forgetting I have a son whose only a few years older than you.” Robert quipped and Billie just gave him an unimpressed look but he only smirked in return.

This was just their usual banter although Robert had to admit that Billie was a little more distant lately than she usually was. Billie always kept to herself on set except for when it came to Stan and Mackie but she was more reserved than usual. Robert wondered why that was. Well, he kind of had an idea but he just didn’t know how to reassure her that she didn’t have to be uncomfortable around him. Billie wasn’t exactly an easy person to talk to. He didn’t know how Stan and Mackie did it on a regular basis. Even Chris was a bit perplexed by the teenage girl.

“Hello, Mr. Aufderheide.” Kevin greeted politely as he looked at Billie’s grandfather and tried to prevent Billie and Robert from bickering any further. Those two really loved to annoy the hell out of each other. Billie was a teenage girl so it was understandable but Robert on the other hand was a grown man who should’ve known better. Ulrich only nodded as he muttered a quiet greeting in return.

“Billie, why don’t you and your grandfather have a seat.” Kevin said as he gestured to the two empty seats next to him and one of the producers from Marvel Studios. Billie nodded towards her grandfather and they both sat down at the table with Robert and the two unfamiliar faces sitting across from them.

“Opa, you remember Robert, don’t you? You two are the same age, after all.” Billie said, making another dig at Robert who only rolled his eyes before smiling at Ulrich. That girl was such a little smartass, Robert thought to himself. She was joking but it wasn’t really much of a stretch. Billie’s grandfather was only seven years older than Robert which, of course, made Robert feel older than he wanted to feel.

“It’s nice to see you again, Ulrich.” Robert said politely and Ulrich, not a man of many words, nodded. Well, at least we know where Billie gets her talkativeness from, Robert thought sarcastically to himself.

“So...how are you doing, Billie?” Kevin asked her once Billie and her grandfather got situated in their seats at the table. Billie gave him an odd look because he was acting a little nervous and giddy. That was usually a sign that Billie wasn’t going to like whatever this meeting was about. They called the meeting a few days ago once Kevin heard that Billie would be in Los Angeles. However, she didn’t really expect all these people to be there at the meeting. Especially not Robert.

“Um...good.” Billie said, not knowing what else to say. Kevin just nodded.

“How’s school going?” He asked and Billie knew that he was really up to something now. Small talk was always an indication of something bigger coming up in a conversation. Kevin was just working himself up to whatever it was he actually wanted to say.

“Good. I just need to get my government and civics class credits as well as my British Lit credits. I finished everything else last year so those are the last things I have to do before I graduate.” Billie explained to him even though she was sure no one actually cared. Robert snorted.

“You’re actually taking British Literature? You?” Robert questioned in disbelief and Billie glared at him. “I have to see it to believe it.”

“Didn’t you drop out of high school?” Billie retorted and Robert huffed.

“That was a low blow, Aufderheide.” Robert said before Billie’s grandfather nudged her in the side.

“Sei höflich(Be respectful).” Ulrich said scoldingly to his granddaughter and Billie glowered.

“Es tut uns leid(Sorry).” Billie muttered and everyone looked at the blonde in amusement because it was rare that anyone scolded her except for her mother. It was an interesting sight to see the actress be put in her place.

“Yeah, what he said.” Robert said teasingly as he smirked at the blonde. “See Hotchick.” Billie just stared at him, feeling the urge to say something about his butchering of the German language. What an idiot, Billie thought to herself. However, she knew better than to say anything because her grandfather would only scold her in German again.

“I’m glad to hear that your classes are going well, Billie. That’s good.” Kevin said as he tried to make more small talk but if there was one thing Billie hated, it was small talk. She saw no point in small talk. It was useless in her opinion. 

The waitress then came by to take their orders and Billie ordered whatever the hell her grandfather ordered just to get it over with. She didn't know what the food was but it was the only item on the menu that she remotely recognized so she just went for it. She waited until the waitress left to finally put all the small talk to rest.

“Let’s stop beating around the bush. I hate small talk.” Billie said bluntly and this time her grandfather didn’t scold her for her rudeness. He too was a person who didn’t have any patience for small talk or nonsense. It was something Billie had probably learned from him. “What’s this about? You were pretty mysterious about what you wanted when you called me down here.”

“Well, I feel like I should probably introduce you to a couple of people first.” Kevin said as he nodded towards the two unfamiliar people sitting next to Robert across the table. Billie had to admit that it was kind of rude of him to wait this long to introduce her but she was from the south and maybe this was the norm in LA. “Billie, this Jon Watts and Amy Pascal. Guys, this is Billie although I’m sure you know that.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Miss Aufderheide.” The man, apparently named Jon, said awkwardly. Billie thought he looked to be in his mid thirties. Probably around Sebastian’s age.

“Yes, we’re really excited that you came all the way down here today.” The woman named Amy said. Billie noticed that the woman was older. Most likely around Robert and her grandfather’s age.

“It’s great to meet you too.” Billie said, a little taken back by their formalness. Was there a reason why everyone seemed nervous and excited? “You can just call me Billie by the way.”

“Amy’s a producer from Sony and Jon’s directing the new Spider-Man film.” Kevin informed her and suddenly everything made a lot more sense. This was why they called her down to this restaurant today. They were probably telling her that she was going to be in the new Spider-Man film.

Billie wasn’t stupid.

Why else would Kevin introduce her to the director of the new Spider-Man film and a producer from Sony? It was because they wanted her to be in the new movie. It’s not like Billie had much of a choice in the matter. She signed a nine picture movie contract with Marvel when she and her mother signed on for her to do Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Billie had already done three Marvel movies so far so she still had six movies left in her contract. It didn’t matter how Billie felt about the situation, she had to be in whatever movie Marvel told her to be in. Not that Billie minded or anything but that big of a commitment was a little scary at times since she had to work her filming schedule around Marvel.

Her career was basically in Marvel’s hands.

“We actually brought you here, Billie, to tell you that you’re going to be in this Spider-Man film although I’m sure this isn’t that surprising.” Kevin explained to her and Billie nodded.

“Joe and Anthony hinted at something similar.” Billie told the older man who only nodded.

“We’re still in the large process of editing Civil War right now but from what we’ve seen, everyone at Marvel Studios is really loving yours and Tom’s chemistry.” Kevin informed her as she listened quietly to him. “I’ve always wanted to see the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man meet on screen and I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way. You two went beyond our expectations which is why we want to include the Viper Assassin in this new movie.”

“I don’t really know what to say, Kevin.” Billie said, not really thinking much of her and Tom’s so called chemistry. She didn’t really see it that way. Sure, she liked Tom well enough but she was really only doing her job when it came to acting in those scenes. She was sure Tom was doing the same exact thing when he filmed his scenes too.

“This would be a larger part for Emma than what we’ve seen in previous movies. It’s a Spider-Man movie but both you and Tom would be leading it. I think it would be just as much of Spider-Man’s movie as it would be the Viper Assassin’s movie.” Kevin explained to her much to Billie’s surprise. Okay...maybe now she was a little more interested. It’s not that she wanted more screen time for herself but she just wanted more screen time for Emma.

Billie was one of the few people who got to know all the little complexities and quirks of Emma’s character. She so badly wanted the rest of the world to see the same side of Emma that Billie saw on a regular basis. This was why Billie was dying for more of Emma’s character to be shown on screen. She knew people would only love her that much more. Billie fully believed that Emma was one of the most complex and interesting characters in the MCU. Well, she might’ve been a little biased in saying that but still.

“I’m assuming Robert’s in this movie too.” Billie said as she cast the actor a curious look. Robert only smirked at the teenager.

“Excited to go back to work with me, Texas?” Robert said teasingly and Billie fought the urge to roll her eyes at him. Kevin nodded.

“Robert, Tom obviously, Marisa’s coming back too, and Jon Favreau will be in it as well.” Kevin told her and Billie was a bit surprised to hear Jon would be in this film. She hadn’t worked with him on-screen yet but he had executive produced Age of Ultron so she met him a few times in the past. “We’re going to have to start casting for roles in a few months before production starts so we might need you and Tom to do some screen tests with possible candidates.”

“When does production start?’ Billie asked curiously. Kevin looked over at Jon and Amy as he tried to see who would answer the question. It turned out to be Amy.

“We’re thinking production will start up in May.” Amy informed her. Shit...this meant that Billie probably wasn’t going to be able to get that part in the Spielberg film. Production for that movie started around the same time. It sucked that Billie wasn’t going to get to work with Steven Spielberg, which was every actor’s dream, but she was just happy that this meant that she could still do Split which was the movie she really wanted to do.

“How’s your schedule looking?” Kevin inquired and Billie sighed before answering.

“Well, I’m flying out in a couple days to shoot a movie in Georgia for about a month and a half.” Billie said as she explained her filming schedule. “I’m in the process of signing on to do a Shyamalan movie. That’ll be in Philadelphia from November to February. I also have to do reshoots for this other movie in December plus the reshoots for Civil War.”

“We can schedule your reshoots for Civil War while you’re in Georgia just to get that out of the way and make it easier. Say next month?” Kevin said as he determined whether or not Billie would be free to shoot this new Spider-Man movie in May. He then looked at Billie’s grandfather. “Is that alright with you, Mr. Aufderheide?” Billie’s grandfather nodded.

“That sounds easier, yes.” He confirmed much to Kevin’s relief and Billie nodded in agreement with her grandfather.

Robert was slightly impressed with Billie’s busy schedule. He certainly wasn’t nabbing all these parts in movies when he was her age. Robert wasn’t even working that much now but that probably had to do with the fact that he had a family now. Billie was young and energetic so she could probably manage a busy schedule. Just wait until you’re my age, Texas, Robert thought to himself.

“Okay. That sounds great.” Billie said, a little relieved to get Civil War out of the way so she wouldn’t have to worry about it until they did the press tour. The press tour was probably the most stressful part of these movies, after all.

“And you’re free after the Shyamalan movie? There’s nothing else in your schedule?” Kevin asked her and Billie nodded.

“As far as I know.” Billie said, already knowing that she was going to have to cancel her next audition for Ready Player One. It sucked that she was going to have to drop out of that movie but sometimes things like this happened. She was just lucky that her issue was that her schedule was too busy for her to do all the movies she wanted. Other actors had the opposite problem. Billie realized she was very fortunate to be in this position so there was no sense in moping about not being able to do the Spielberg film like she wanted. Maybe she’d get another opportunity to work with him someday.

“We’ll double check with your agent.” Kevin said before Billie turned to Jon, the director of this new movie, who hadn’t really said much since she was introduced to him.

“What’s this movie about anyways?” Billie questioned bluntly much to everyone’s surprise. “Or is this like a Russo Brothers thing and you can’t tell me anything?” Jon seemed speechless for a moment at Billie’s boldness but he answered her once he collected himself.

“Um...no, I can talk about a couple things with you. It’s actually why I really wanted to meet you.” Jon said as he started to explain the basic concept of the new movie. “It’s kind of a coming-of-age story. All the other Marvel movies are about rich billionaires, super soldiers, and gods but this one will be about high school.” Billie raised an eyebrow.

“High school?” She questioned, becoming more and more invested in this concept.

“Yeah, this will kind of be like the John Hughes movie of the MCU. It’s a lot more light hearted than the Captain America movies and the emotional stakes are a lot lower in this movie too.” Jon explained to her as Billie listened patiently to him. “It’s kind of a world of fighting bad guys mixed together with going to high school and navigating adolescence.”

“Where is Emma in this movie?” Billie asked, both curious and slightly afraid to hear the answer. Jon took a deep breath before explaining the movie further.

“This movie would put Emma in a high school setting with Peter.” Jon finally told her much to Billie’s astonishment. “It’ll kind of be like Emma like we’ve never seen her before. She’s going to be hanging out with kids her own age for the very first time in her life. She won’t be living with the Avengers anymore and she certainly won’t be with Steve and Bucky.”

“Who will she be living with?” Billie asked, not being able to stop herself from doing so.

“We’ve been thinking about either getting Emily VanCamp on board since Sharon Carter is Emma’s cousin.” Jon mentioned and both Amy and Kevin nodded in agreement.

“Yes, but Emily’s a little tied up with other things right now so we’re seeing if maybe we can get Kat Dennings back into the MCU since Darcy Lewis is a fan favorite character and we think Darcy and Emma would be an interesting pair.” Kevin told Billie and the blonde’s eyes widened in surprise. Mostly because she actually really loved Kat Dennings. 2 Broke Girls was one of her favorite shows right now and not to mention Kat Dennings was hilarious.

“Anyways...we’re still in the process of trying to figure that out.” Jon told her as he went on to discuss the movie. “What we do know is that this movie will pair Spider-Man and the Viper Assassin together as allies and later as friends.”

“It sounds really interesting.” Billie said, not knowing what else to say. She was still processing all this information because it was kind of a lot to take in. “I mean, I’ve always been interested in exploring other aspects of Emma’s character. High school would probably have to be a nightmare for her. I guess me and Emma would be similar in that way because high school would be my worst nightmare too.”

There was collective chuckles around the table even though Billie was being completely serious. She had never been to high school before, always having been given an on-set tutor during her time on Mad Men and while working on other projects too. In fact, the last time she had been in school with other kids was when she was in the fifth grade. Billie was sure both she and Emma had a lot in common in that aspect. Billie spent most of her time around adults too just like Emma so she was a bit uncertain of how to interact with people her own age at times. Other than her friends Matteo and Nellie, she was pretty clueless.

“And I just want you to know that me and the other screenwriters have been getting a lot of tips and advice from the Russo Brothers about Emma’s character since they know so much.” Jon added as Billie was broken out of her thoughts. “I realize that she’s a complicated character and I want to do her justice. I know you’ve had some concerns about her character changing but you don’t need to worry. We might see a more laid back version of her in this movie but she’ll be the same.”

Billie felt a wave of relief wash over her at this news. She was a little scared to not be working with Joe and Anthony on this film. Sure, she worked with Joss Whedon when she did Age of Ultron but she wasn’t in that movie for that long. Joe and Anthony were the ones who casted her in The Winter Soldier and she felt like they were the only ones who had the largest understanding of everything that was Emma Rogers.

It was also going to be weird not working with Chris for the first time. Billie was going to miss Sebastian and Anthony too but she already knew what it was like not working with them as much like when she worked on Age of Ultron. Anthony was barely in that movie while Sebastian hadn’t been in it at all. Filming Age of Ultron had been scary originally but she didn’t feel too much like a stranger since Scarlett and Chris were there and she already knew them from The Winter Soldier. She knew she was probably going to have a bigger role in this new Spider-Man movie but it was going to be weird not seeing Chris every day on set.

“Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely gave us a lot of tips on how to write Emma too so that was really helpful.” Jon mentioned, breaking Billie out of her musings once more. He was, of course, referring to the two genius screenwriters who had written the screenplays for all three Captain America movies.

“I, for one, think it sounds great already. I really like the idea of Emma being taken out of her natural habitat and being forced into a new one unlike anything she’s ever seen before.” Billie said, commending the concept of the movie and Jon smiled at her.

“So we’re thinking that Emma’s going to be in all three Spider-Man movies.” Kevin said as he started to talk business again.

Billie hid her discomfort as she shifted in her chair a little bit. Her issue wasn’t really with being in Spider-Man movies but it was more with being in three movies because that was a very in-depth look into the future. A lot of commitment was involved with that and if Billie was being perfectly honest, she was a bit afraid of commitment. She couldn’t even commit to one music streaming service.

“You’ve done three films already, you’re a guarantee for the next two Avenger films, and the Spider-Man movies would make eight films total which means that we’d have to renew your contract for the Viper Assassin installments.” Kevin continued to say.

“Viper Assassin?” Billie questioned, her eyes widening in surprise. Kevin and everyone else smiled at the shocked looking girl.

“We already have a bunch of films slated for the next couple years so the Viper Assassin movie wouldn’t happen for some time, you’d probably be in your early twenties by then, but it’s in the plans.” Kevin told her and Billie felt a bit giddy. Not just because she’d be getting her own film franchise but because there would be an even more in-depth look into Emma’s story in the future. Billie’s grandfather smiled at his excited and shocked looking granddaughter. It was nice to see her be so happy. She was very moody and bitter at times so it was refreshing to see her this way.

“This is amazing. Wow…” Billie said dumbly, not knowing what else to say. Robert smirked at her.

“Looks like you’re going to be stuck in this gig for a long time, Texas.” Robert said teasingly but he was honestly very happy for her. She deserved this.

“We’ll talk more business terms with your mom and agent present later but you’re definitely going to be in the new Spider-Man film. I can say that with a hundred percent certainty.” Kevin said as he continued to smile at the teenage girl.

“Great. I’m really excited.” Billie said and she truthfully was very excited even though she didn’t know how to express her excitement like a normal person. She knew how fortunate she was to just be working and having lots of projects lined up.

“Just make sure you don’t injure yourself between then and now. Especially your face.” Kevin mentioned and Billie raised her eyebrows, looking entirely confused by the odd statement.

“What does that mean?” Billie questioned and everyone shared a collective laugh around the table except for Billie and her grandfather who didn’t know what they were laughing about.

“I believe Kevin’s referring to the fact that your little boyfriend injured himself on set of his new movie in Brazil.” Robert said with a huge smirk on his face. The confused look fell off her face and was replaced with an annoyed look.

“Worüber redet er(What is he talking about)?” Her grandfather asked, suddenly looking very alarmed. Billie clenched her jaw as she glared at Robert who looked very amused. Smug bastard, Billie thought to herself. “Welcher Freund(What boyfriend)?”

“Nothing, Opa. Robert just thinks he’s more funny than he is.” Billie reassured her grandfather without looking away from Robert who didn’t seem offended at all. Everyone else at the table just seemed amused at the bickering between Billie and Robert.

“Anyways...Tom did some kind of stunt while doing his movie. He said something about doing a flip and landing on his face.” Kevin hurriedly explained to Billie who listened in disbelief to the head of Marvel Studios. Billie knew for a fact that Tom was in Brazil doing a period piece so she didn’t know why the hell he’d be doing a flip. Stunt my ass, Billie thought to herself. That kid was totally bullshitting Marvel because she doubted that he got that injury from doing a stunt. More like he had gotten the injury from being an idiot.

It had been about a month now since Billie said goodbye to Tom but they kept in contact. He texted her constantly about his stay in Brazil while he was on the set of his new movie. He texted her so much that Billie had to wonder why he didn’t mention this injury thing.

Billie was at this weird point in her near friendship with Tom where she wasn’t sure if she liked him or found him annoying. Probably both. It seemed like everyday she woke up to a bunch of new texts from him telling her about every single part of his day.

'You’ll never guess what happened today, Billie.'

'I just saw a gigantic snake in Brazil, Billie, and it made me think of you. U know...coz of the VIPER assassin.'

'Look, it’s u, Billie.' His text was attached to a selfie of him with the makeup advertisement she did for Urban Decay on a giant billboard in the background. He had a goofy grin on his face as he pointed at the sign which made Billie wrinkle her nose in disgust but kind of smile on the inside.

'Ur doing a movie w/ Seth Rogen and Zac Efron? Why didn’t u say anything? This is soooo cool!'

'Just met Robert Pattinson today. So that just happened.'

He was kind of a dork but Billie found him amusing at the same time. Tom normally wouldn’t be the kind of person she was friends with. He was weirdly upbeat and had a positive attitude which would usually disgust Billie but she couldn’t help but like him. Tom was a likable guy she supposed. Not that he was her friend or anything because Billie was very picky about who she let in but he was kind of worming his way into her soft side which was a near impossible task to do. Just ask Sebastian or Mackie.

“He broke his nose so we were a little worried.” Kevin continued to explain. Billie did the unexpected as she snorted before rolling her eyes.

“Figures...he seemed like a klutz.” Billie said bluntly and the others couldn’t tell whether or not she was joking. “No worries. I won’t fall on my face and break my nose because I don’t do flips. Apparently only complete dorks do that.”

“You should really be nice to the kid, Billie.” Robert told her with a teasing smile on his face. “Looks like you and him just became a package deal. You’re going to be working together for a loooong time.” Billie glared at him even though she knew he was right.

“Why are you even here?” Billie questioned and her grandfather nudged her again while giving her another warning look for being rude. However, Robert just chuckled because he knew he finally found a way to get on her nerves. It seemed like the kid was the way to do it. He shrugged nonchalantly as he leaned back in his seat but Billie was still annoyed to see the same stupid smug look on his face.

“I’m in this movie too and maybe I just missed your pleasant attitude.” Robert said sarcastically and Billie glowered at him. 

“Great! The food’s here!” Kevin said as he laughed nervously, entirely grateful when he saw the waiters come in with their food. It was a blessing in disguise because he really didn’t want to sit through another one of Billie and Robert’s bickering matches. It was nice that they could keep each other on their toes but Kevin didn’t want to scare away Jon or Amy. Not with this new Spider-Man movie happening.

Billie stared down at her plate of food...if you even wanted to call it food. The portion was so small that the term “snack” would've been a huge stretch too. Billie could see that Jon and her grandfather had surprised looks on their faces too, clearly unused to the small portion size as well. It was nice to see she wasn’t alone in that. She just continued to stare at her food and she knew that she was definitely going to get her grandfather to take her to a burger joint or something after this. This wasn’t even enough food for a guinea pig.

“I feel like Blake Shelton in the Hillbilly Bone music video.” Billie murmured and everyone at the table just stared at her. She scoffed before sneering at them. “Don’t look at me like that. You’ve seen that music video too.”

None of them would admit whether or not they had seen the music video but Billie was willing to bet good money that, at least, half of them had. She was sure of it.

 

 

The discussion after the lunch hadn’t been very eventful since they got the business side of things out of the way early on in the lunch. They mostly just chatted amongst each other about various things with Robert teasing Billie and Billie pretending to find him annoying. Billie also took the time to get to know Jon and at the end of the lunch, they exchanged phone numbers just in case Billie had any questions and if Jon had any new ideas to discuss with her. All in all, it was a great lunch and Billie walked away with some pretty good news on her hands.

Of course, Billie and her grandfather went to an In-N-Out Burger a couple hours later. This was why Billie never understood the point of fancy restaurants. You paid a shit ton of money for basically no food and you had to go eat another meal almost immediately after. People in Hollywood, like her co-stars, tried to explain it to her but Billie was stubborn. That’s not how it was done where she was from. You could take the girl out of Texas but you could never take Texas out of the girl.

Billie finally made it to her hotel room after she and her grandfather visited her agent Luke who was going to start discussing her pay for the new Spider-Man movie. He and the lawyers at the agency did all the business stuff with her grandfather and mother overseeing them since Billie was still a minor. She supposed she would have to start having those kinds of talks with Luke when she turned eighteen but not yet.

It was a bit of a long day Billie realized as she sat on the edge of her bed in the hotel room. Her grandfather was in the hotel room next to her and she knew he was probably passed out by now. He seemed really tired from all the running around they did today. Meeting people was always a trying task. Billie knew that from personal experience.

Billie then noticed a script that was lying next to her on her bed as she relaxed. Luke must’ve had it dropped off, Billie thought to herself. It seemed like Billie was getting more and more scripts these days. She got at least two every month. A lot of them were really bad. There was this one script, for example, she got about a teenage assassin who wants to be a normal teenage girl so she enrolls herself into a high school.

Barf.

Billie would’ve been all for the assassin thing if it hadn’t been for the character falling head over heels for some stupid kid in a rock band before realizing the nerdy kid was there all along. It was like The Bourne Identity combined with Clueless. Worst movie combination ever. Billie liked those two films separately just fine but not together.

Luckily, Billie had the luxury of being a little picky these days. She now had the ability to pass on a film if she thought it was stupid. A lot of actors didn’t have that same option so Billie was very grateful.

The blonde grabbed the script and placed it in her lap, curiously looking down at the title on the front page.

Lady Bird.

There was a sticky note attached to the script in Luke’s handwriting.

Billie,

This script was slipped to me by a producer at A24. I think you’ll really like it and it’s exactly what you were looking for. You can thank me later.

-Luke

It was an odd title for a movie which immediately interested her. So she obviously wasn’t going to be able to get the part in Spielberg’s movie but there would be more movies to come. Hopefully other movies she could manage to move around her Marvel schedule. As much as she loved doing these huge superhero films, she liked doing other different things too.

Billie was about to open the script to start reading it when her phone vibrated on the bed. She curiously glanced at her iPhone which she had carelessly thrown on her bed when she first got back to her hotel room. It was only when she grabbed the phone and read the text notification that she rolled her eyes. She should’ve known.

Tom: Has Kevin talked 2 U yet?

Billie knew that Tom was fishing for information about the movie and her involvement with it. Kevin probably already discussed a bunch of stuff about the movie with him so Tom was now wondering what went on in the discussion Kevin had with her. He was really bad at being sneaky. That was for sure.

Billie: Yes. Speaking of which...how’s the nose?

It only took him a moment to respond.

Tom: Ha ha. Very funny.

Tom: So you’re going to be in the movie too? 

Billie just smirked in amusement before responding to his text as her fingers rapidly swept across the screen as she texted a response.

Billie: It’s not like I have a choice, Holland. I’m under contract, remember?

Tom: So glad to see how excited you are. 

She then found herself wondering what he was doing. Was he actually okay after breaking his nose? Billie wouldn’t know. She had never injured herself in that capacity before. It was really a wonder how she hadn’t injured herself either since she was always getting into trouble as a child.

Billie had never been the child to stay indoors all day playing video games. She always liked adventure so she and Matteo would spend all day outside climbing trees and running around outside. Billie lost track of the amount of times she had fallen out of trees and gotten bit by fire ants and even stung by scorpions. There was even the one time she had gotten bitten by a rattler. Thankfully it was only a dry bite but it still hurt like hell and left a scar on the inside of her wrist.

Even so, Billie had never managed to break anything or seriously injure herself. Her mom said that she was like a cat since she had nine lives. Billie didn’t really know about that but she did know for sure that she really didn’t want to get bitten by fire ants or a rattler ever again nor did she want to get stung by a scorpion either although that was a given since she lived in Texas. Scorpions always had a way of sneaking into the house through the plumbing. Billie once woke up to one in bed with her. It wasn’t a pleasant experience but she really liked telling her co-stars about it because it always freaked them out. Except for Hemsworth, that is. The guy was from Australia so he probably had it a lot worse over there.

Billie: Make sure that pretty face of yours heals up, Holland. Kevin did NOT seem happy. It would sure be a shame for your cute little nose to go to waste. 

Billie frowned after she sent the message.

Tom: Thanks a lot, Billie. 

Tom: But no worries. I’ll be healed up the next you see me. 

Tom: My cute little nose will be back to it's normal self...just the way you like it. An adorable winky face emoji was at the end of the text which made Billie frown even more.

Billie then tossed her phone aside as a troubled look came over her face. What was she doing? Was she actually flirting with him? Billie didn’t really know. Maybe Matteo had a point. Maybe she just flirted with everyone. It was a bad habit of hers and Tom was no different from the other boys she occasionally flirted with.

She didn’t respond to his text message, deciding to end the flirty texting before it even began. Billie wasn’t in the mood and she just wanted to sleep. It was best not to encourage Tom to text her more than he did anyways. Billie liked talking to people in person rather than over the phone. She was terrible at getting back to people over the phone. Mostly because she was lazy and a terrible friend to have. Tom would probably find that out sooner enough.

Billie’s eyes then began to flutter shut as she was lulled to sleep by the sound of the air conditioner in the hotel room. It was one of the few things that reminded her of home.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie finds herself forced into a situation she never thought she'd have to face...all because SOMEONE has a big mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So I haven't updated in a while and I'm sorry but things have been pretty busy lately with the holidays. This is kind of a long chapter to make up for that. So there will be one or two more chapters then I'll skip to the Civil War press tour which I'm excited to write.

February, 2016

Billie didn’t know how she was even here.

One moment she was taking on a very dramatic role opposite James McAvoy of all people and under the direction of a brilliant director like M. Knight Shyamalan...then she was suddenly whisked away to New York where she was waiting outside a high school in a SUV with someone she was incredibly pissed at. Billie never would’ve imagined she’d be in this position two weeks ago when Split finally wrapped up and she got a call from Kevin. She had been angry and bitter ever since then.

(Flashback)  
“What’s going on, Kevin?” Billie said into the phone as she looked out the window of her hotel room in Philadelphia. “I thought it would be a while before I got a call from you. Was there something wrong with the scene Robert, Don, Paul, and I did during reshoots?”

They had just wrapped on filming Split the day before and Billie was getting ready to go back home. She was prepared to fly back to New York in a couple weeks with her grandfather to meet with Greta Gerwig, the director and writer of Lady Bird, so that Billie could read some lines of the script with her. She hadn’t signed on to do the movie yet but Billie had facetimed with Greta a lot and they discussed the movie quite a bit so Billie felt good about auditioning for the role. Billie wasn’t sure but she felt like 2017 was going to be a really good year for her.

“No, nothing’s wrong, Billie. Everything looks perfect.” Kevin told her. “I think this scene is going to set up Homecoming very nicely for Emma.” Billie nodded even though he couldn’t see her. 

“I saw the trailer for Civil War a couple months ago. It looks really amazing. I can’t wait to see it.” Billie told him and she felt like she wasn’t being too narcissistic with saying that even though she was starring in the movie. 

These Marvel films were so secretive that Billie had no idea what was going on for a majority of the movie. She only really knew about the scenes she was in and very little about anything else. At this point in the game, and after working with the Russo brothers for almost three years now, Billie knew it wasn’t worth it to ask them about what happened. They’d never give it up and they’d just make her read a bunch of fake scripts. Billie was beyond caring at this point and she was just going to settle for waiting until the movie came out like everybody else. 

“I’ll tell Joe and Anthony.” Kevin said and a confused look crossed Billie’s face as she continued to stare out the window.

“So what is this about if it’s not about reshoots?” Billie questioned.

“I actually called to tell you about this really amazing idea Tom had.” Kevin said excitedly and Billie looked even more confused than before.

“Holland?” Billie inquired. She was still very much in contact with Tom over the past few months. Billie texted him quite a bit while filming Neighbors 2 and they even facetimed a couple times too. Although...Billie hadn’t texted him in a while ever since she started filming Split. She had been kind of busy with filming that movie since it was very emotionally exhausting. Billie didn’t want to be the kind of actor who got emotionally exhausted because it was so cliché but it was the truth. 

“Yes, he came up with the brilliant idea for the two of you to go to an actual American high school for research.” Kevin said this like it was a good thing. Billie thought he was joking so she laughed a little.

“Is this some kind of joke?” Billie asked.

“No. I just thought this was a good idea seeing as how neither of you have actually been to an American high school before.” Kevin told her and the smile fell off Billie’s face because she was slowly realizing what her absolute worst nightmare was. It was this.

“Kevin, this is insane. I just graduated last month. You know that.” Billie told him. “I really don’t feel like going back to school. I thought I was finished.”

“Well, you were homeschooled during your middle and high school years so it’s not the same thing. It’s not like we’ll be making you take your finals again.” Kevin said as he tried to reassure her.

“This is some method acting shit, Kevin.” Billie told him gruffly. “Was this really Holland’s idea? I’m going to have a long talk with that idiot.”

“I think this is a good idea. It’ll give you and Tom more time to bond before filming starts.” Kevin informed her and Billie clenched her jaw. She wasn’t angry but just annoyed. She thought she was finally finished with school and now she had to go back for a ridiculous reason. “School with other kids sounds exciting, right? It could be fun. You never went to high school so this is your chance to finally get that experience. You can check it off your bucket list.”

“I don’t really think high school was on my bucket list to begin with, Kevin.” Billie said bitterly. 

“Well, I already talked about this with your mom and she agreed. She thinks it'll be good for you.” Kevin explained to her much to Billie’s disbelief. “So in a couple weeks you’ll be in New York to attend the Bronx School of Science with Tom. You’ll be undercover of course but we’ll work out the details before you get here.”

“I don’t think so-” Billie started to say but Kevin interrupted her before she finished.

“See you then. Bye.” Kevin said quickly before hanging up on her. Billie glared down at her phone as she realized that she didn’t have a choice in the matter. He talked to her mother already. God, Billie couldn’t wait for the day she turned eighteen so Kevin would be forced to talk to her and not her mother. Not that she disliked her mother having a part in her career but Billie really didn’t want to go to high school if she had a say in it.

Billie sighed heavily as she went into her contacts on her phone before finding the one she was looking for. She didn’t hesitate before calling the person. Billie had a few choice words to say. She knew that much. It only took a couple rings before the person answered.

“Billie...is that you?” A drowsy sounding voice said on the other line. “It’s two in the morning. Why are you calling?”

“What the fuck did you do, Holland?!” 

(Present Day)  
This was how Billie found herself in New York a couple weeks later. She and her grandfather had gone home to spend some time with her mother before flying to New York to do this whole shit show. At least she would finally have the chance to see Greta in person this time. It’s not like she was just going to New York for the sake of this ridiculous school thing. There was work to be done and meetings to attend. Maybe she'd even see Sebastian while she was here since he lived in the city.

“I really am sorry, Billie.” Tom told the blonde with an apologetic look on his face.

They were sitting next to each other in the backseat of the SUV with one of Kevin’s mindless zombie employees sitting in the front with the driver to make sure they didn’t try to sneak off. Billie was obviously sulking as she glared out the window and Tom was desperately trying to make her forgive him. He had been trying ever since he had been reunited with her for the first time since the filming of Civil War ended. Billie was seemingly in a sour mood about going to high school and he didn’t blame her. She had just graduated, after all, and now she was going back to school which was probably the last thing she wanted to do.

“I didn’t know Kevin would take me so literally about the high school thing. I was only joking around.” Tom said defensively despite Billie not saying anything. He even laughed nervously when she didn't respond. “Obviously Marvel doesn’t understand my British sarcasm, right?”

“Obviously you have a big mouth you can’t keep shut.” Billie retorted, her accent thick and pronounced. Tom hadn’t realized how much he missed her Texan drawl until she spoke. He just wished that she didn’t sound so annoyed with him.

“What?” Tom questioned, a little distracted by her lovely accent.

“Didn’t your mom and dad ever teach you anything about keeping your damn pie-hole shut, Holland?” Billie said as she glared at him. “They could’ve at least taught you that at Hogwarts or whatever the hell kind of boarding school you went to.”

Tom badly wanted to say that he didn’t go to boarding school but he had trouble saying so because he was very distracted by her accent. It seemed more thicker than ever and Tom wondered if it was because she was angry.

“I uh...I don’t really know.” Tom said weakly and it was the only thing he could manage to say to her in that moment. Okay...so her accent was really sexy and especially when she was angry. Tom wasn’t going to lie. Her accent was making him feel a lot of things right now. Tom didn’t realize that he had such a strong attraction to the Texan accent. Not until he met Billie, at least.

“Well, maybe you should take a lesson on it. You could do with keeping your mouth shut every once and awhile.” Billie lectured as Tom could do nothing but admire her very beautiful accent. “You really know how to blab, don’t you?”

“I swear I didn’t mean for Kevin to take me seriously. It was an accident.” Tom tried to tell the blonde who still seemed to be in a grumpy mood.

“Calm down, kids.” Kevin’s errand boy said from the front seat. Billie believed his name was Kyle or something. “It looks like we’re here at the school.”

“Tell me why I have to be the one, the actual American here, posing as the foreign exchange student while the actual foreigner is posing as the American? In what world does that make sense?” Billie questioned, oblivious to the fact that she might’ve been offending Tom. Stuff like that didn’t really occur to Billie. 

She was also, of course, referring to the fact that she and Tom would have fake names and backstories as to what they were doing there. Billie was going to be posing as a German foreign exchange student while Tom was posing as just another American student.

“Because two of you can’t show up in the middle of the school year at the same time. It’s already weird enough that one of you is.” Kyle explained to them. “If one of you poses as a foreign exchange student then it’s not as suspicious.”

“But why can’t Tom be a foreign exchange student from England?” Billie questioned challengingly. “It’s not like they’ll know who he is anyways.” She was once again being very offensive to Tom but it still didn’t occur to her how rude she was being. Billie was just a very blunt kind of person. She wasn’t one to beat around the bush and sometimes she was a little too honest.

“Thanks for the compliment, Billie.” Tom said sarcastically but Billie just ignored him as Kyle spoke next.

“Look, your accent’s a very famous one and not to mention you’re very recognizable, Billie. If you’re posing as a German exchange student then no one will ask any questions.” Kyle explained to her and Billie had to admit that it made a little bit of sense but she still thought this was stupid.

“You’re also not bad at faking a German accent.” Kyle added. Billie sighed heavily because she always knew it was a bad idea for her to do her impression of her grandfather around set. Word got around and now people knew that not only could she speak fluent German but she was also really good at the German accent. It was ironic how easy it was for her to fake a German accent but at the same time it was immensely difficult for her to fake a British one.

“You can fake a German accent?” Tom asked in surprise, looking at Billie in a new light. It was clear he hadn’t expected this from her. He obviously knew Billie must’ve been at least part German. Her last name made it painstakingly obvious. Aufderheide couldn’t be anything but German.

“Billie can speak fluent German too.” Kyle couldn’t help but say. Billie just shrugged in response.

“My grandfather’s German.” Billie explained to Tom and despite loving her accent when she was angry, Tom was just glad that she was becoming less and less annoyed with him. “He helped raise me and I picked up on a few things.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. That’s really cool, Billie.” Tom told her and Billie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. She knew she was being kind of a bitch but she was annoyed with having to go to an actual high school and even though she wouldn’t admit it, she was really scared too. Billie had never been to high school before so she had no idea what was coming her way.

“Anyways...you two will be heading to the principal’s office where the principal has your schedule waiting for you. You'll also be shadowing a couple students here at the school. Danielle and Kumail. Both of whom have classes that will be similar to the kind of classes Peter and Emma will take in the movie.” Kyle informed them as they listened intently to him. “One more thing. You're going to have to take your pictures for your student IDs.”

“Student ID? Ugh! You guys at Marvel take yourselves way too seriously.” Billie complained while Tom just had a optimistic look on his face as he playfully nudged Billie in the side. The blonde cautiously eyed his elbow.

“Come on, Billie. It’s not that bad. This could actually be fun.” Tom said as he tried to change her mind and Billie narrowed her eyes at him.

“Don’t elbow me again, Holland.” Billie warned with a look on her face that was much scarier than any look even his own mother gave him when he was in trouble. Tom supposed that Billie might’ve seemed unpleasant or maybe even bitchy if she were anyone else, but he actually found her to be quite amusing. She was more grumpy than she was bitchy and Tom didn’t think he had met anyone quite like her.

“Sorry.” Tom said but it sounded more like a question than an actual response. Billie just returned to wallowing in her own misery, desperately trying to search for an excuse that would allow her to not have to do this.

“Whatever.” Billie grumbled and Kyle gave them both an encouraging smile.

“You guys are going to do great. I just know it.”

Billie really wanted to slap this guy. Would Marvel hold it against her if she did?

 

 

“Look, we're heading to our first class, Billie...at an actual high school.” Tom said excitedly as he looked down at the schedule in his hands. Billie begrudgingly walked alongside him to their first class. 

She was still in a sour mood after practically being forced into going to high school. Billie and Tom had just had a mini meeting with the principal who was overjoyed about this whole actors going undercover thing then they took their picture for the stupid fake student ID. Billie couldn’t get over how stupid she felt about this whole thing.

“I’m so excited.” Billie said a bored tone. It was then that Tom really took the time to look at the blonde actress who looked quite different than what he was used to. He didn’t really have a chance to look at her in the car since she was pissed at him but now he did.

The seventeen year old was currently wearing black leggings, a long sleeved blue sweater with the cover art of The Great Gatsby printed on it, a velvet warm looking coat with blue colored floral patterns decorating it, and a pair of blue velvet boots that Tom was sure were her favorite because he’d seen her wearing them all the time on the set of Civil War. She paired the outfit off with a stylish and fashionable looking black backpack.

He would’ve asked if she felt hot because she was wearing layers of clothing but then he remembered she was from Texas. She probably wasn’t used to New York weather in the winter time. Tom also observed the way her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and what was even more perplexing was that she wasn’t wearing any makeup.

Tom realized that he had never seen her without makeup.

It made sense since she was the spokesperson for a large makeup company but Tom also couldn’t stop looking at her without her makeup. She looked different but a good different. Tom even thought Billie looked her exact age without all that makeup adorning her face. He quite liked her natural look although it annoyed him that she still looked devastatingly beautiful without makeup.

Probably because it was more difficult to convince himself that he didn’t find her attractive which was stupid because Billie Aufderheide was incredibly beautiful. This was a known fact. Tom was even sure she knew how beautiful she was since he got the feeling she was a bit cocky that way. The blonde didn’t seem to be all that humble, only when it came to her acting, which was very American of her.

Tom tried to find a trace of acne on her face but for some reason it annoyed him when he couldn’t find any. Stupid perfect Billie Aufderheide, he thought to himself. Why couldn’t his job be easier by having her be a hideous creature? Even when she was dressed casually, she still looked like she had just walked off the runway. 

Tom guessed that it helped that she was kind of crazy. 

When Tom told his friend Harrison about her, Harrison said that she sounded like a nutter. Tom, of course, defended her despite also finding the blonde to be completely insane. She was more eccentric than anything but Tom still couldn’t get over that moment they shared before she left for Texas. There was a certain soft and vulnerable side to her that Tom knew wasn’t an act. He didn’t believe anyone could be that good of an actress.

“What’s your name supposed to be again?” Tom said as he tried to recall the name he saw on her fake Student ID. “Ellen Lederman?” Billie sighed heavily before answering. The fake name thing was also kind of stupid. Tom was going with Ben Perkins but Billie was going with a distinctly German sounding name. 

“Ilse Lehmann.” Billie corrected and Tom rose an eyebrow before she elaborated. “It was my grandmother’s name.”

“Oh, well, it’s a very beautiful sounding name.” Tom said as he tried to process that information. It was yet another piece to the overwhelmingly confusing puzzle that was Billie Aufderheide. Although, Tom didn’t think he was completely clueless about her anymore.

During their time away from each other, Tom couldn’t resist the temptation to google her so he finally did.

Billie Aufderheide.

American actress and fashion model as Wikipedia put it.

He learned a lot of helpful information about her. For example...her real last name wasn’t Aufderheide but McCallister which was a very Scottish sounding name. Tom never would’ve guessed that about her. He also learned that her father’s name was Ethan who was a minor league baseball player but there didn’t seem to be much information about him other than that. Tom just knew that Billie’s parents had been teenagers when they had her and that Billie was mainly raised by her mother as well as her grandfather.

It was really interesting learning about Billie.

How she was spotted at a department store in a mall in LA by a talent scout when she was eight while she was shopping with her mother. She landed a couple commercials before eventually landing her role on Mad Men as Sally Draper. Tom had never seen the show so when he was bored in his hotel room when he was filming The Lost City of Z, he binge watched all seven seasons of the popular television series and remarked at how talented Billie was even at a young age. She must’ve been eight or nine when she started the show and Tom knew why everyone praised her performance.

It was also kind of weird watching Billie grow up on the show. 

The show took him a week to finish but he was still amazed at how he was able to not just watch her grow up physically but grow up as an actress too. Her acting became better and better as the seasons went by so he knew what she meant when she called Mad Men her acting school. Her role on the show became significantly larger as the show went on too. He was even more aware now of how talented she was and Tom felt kind of privileged to work with her. 

Billie clearly wasn’t the average child actor who played immature roles but she was one who always played parts that had a large level of maturity to them. He supposed it might’ve been because she seemed like such an inherently wise and mature person despite being so young. Sometimes Tom forgot that she was younger than him.

“Thank you.” Billie said quietly before looking over at him, her eyes narrowing. “You know we have to pretend like we don’t know each other, right? For this to work, I mean.” Tom laughed.

“Billie, I don’t think this is going to work anyways.” Tom said much to Billie’s curiosity as they continued to walk down the hallway. “You’re too famous for people not to recognize you. Your face is always on a magazine cover.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think people would expect me to go to a high school undercover because who in their right mind would?” Billie retorted and Tom had to admit she had a point there. Besides...Billie didn’t really look how she looked on those magazine covers without her makeup. Not in a bad way or anything. Tom actually quite liked this natural look she had about her. It was almost like he was seeing the real Billie Aufderheide for once.

“Well, you have to be extra careful with that German accent, alright?” Tom said optimistically and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Guten Tag.” Billie said sarcastically and in her own Texan accent. Tom just stared at her. She sounded kind of like Brad Pitt in Inglorious Basterds when he attempted to speak Italian.  
Before Tom could respond, he noticed a boy and a girl standing outside the classroom he was supposed to go to. It must’ve been Kumail, the boy Tom was supposed to be shadowing, and Danielle, the girl Billie was supposed to be shadowing. Tom immediately smiled at the boy and girl in greeting as he and Billie approached them. Billie offered a smaller, more forced smile. She wasn’t a very smiley person like Tom but she tried her best out of the southern manners that had been instilled in her since she was a little girl.

“Hi, you must be Kumail and Danielle.” Tom said jovially as he grinned at the other two teenagers. The two students smiled and nodded.

“Billie and Tom, right?” Danielle inquired as she looked at the two actors but her gaze lingered on Billie. The same for Kumail. Tom didn’t blame them. While his big blockbuster debut in Civil War had yet to come out, Billie had already starred in several blockbusters and not just Marvel ones either. She was probably a little too famous to be going undercover but Tom supposed Billie was right. Who would ever think that a famous actress would just be hanging around a high school for no apparent reason?

“Yeah.” Tom said a bit awkwardly. “This is pretty weird, right? I mean, how many times have you done something like this? Shown actors around a high school, I mean.”

“Not many.” Kumail admitted as both him and Danielle laughed.

“You didn’t have Hailee Steinfeld and Nat Wolff here last week?” Billie asked, speaking up for the first time and actually joking around for once, Tom noticed. It’s not that she didn’t joke around but usually Billie only made sarcastic remarks. Danielle just smiled and shook her head.

“No. Sadly not.” Danielle said jokingly before the two students grew serious as they remembered what they had to do. “Well, Billie, I guess we should get going. We have Art History in five minutes.”

“Yeah, and we have AP Physics to get to.” Kumail told Tom who nodded in response. The British actor then turned to look at the Texan actress. He felt a bit sad to leave her side since she was the only person he really knew at this school. Tom even considered her to be his friend at this point even though he didn’t know if she felt the same way about him.

“I guess I’ll see you in AP English then?” Tom inquired and Billie kept her composure as she shrugged nonchalantly.

“Yeah. See you then, I guess.” Billie said, making sure she kept her usual bored tone although she was a little bit scared to be forced to navigate high school on her own. This was the first time Billie had ever been in an actual high school and she wasn’t sure what she was doing. She had Danielle but Billie only just met the redheaded student. Danielle wasn’t really a familiar face like Tom was. Could she really survive high school on her own?

Billie wasn’t so sure.

“Great. Good luck with everything.” Tom told her, obviously doing his best to encourage the younger girl. If she was half as nervous as he was then Tom knew she was probably scared out of her mind right now. Billie then surprised him when she smirked at him a moment later with a devious look in her eyes.

“I hope the teacher calls on you in Physics and you look like a total idiot in front of everyone.” Billie said with a serious voice but Tom knew she was just being Billie. Not used to Billie’s odd antics, Kumail and Danielle looked between the two actors fearfully. They were nervous that Billie and Tom might’ve had one of those on set feuds you always heard about in celebrity gossip magazines. However, they felt relief wash over them as Tom just rolled his eyes and smiled at her.

“Thanks a lot, Billie. You’re always so encouraging.” Tom said sarcastically and Billie just continued to smirk at him before glancing over at Kumail.

“Hey, Kumail, if he fucks up in class, record it and send me the video. I just know Mackie would love to see it.” Billie said and before Kumail could respond, Tom groaned.

“Billie, please don’t give Mackie anymore material to tease me with. It was bad enough on set.” Tom told her and Billie only continued to smirk at him before she turned around and began to follow Danielle down the hall without saying another word. Tom watched her leave in amusement before also following Kumail down the hall to their first class. This was definitely the oddest thing he had ever done but at least he didn’t have to go through it alone. As weird as Billie was, Tom was glad to have her as a friend.

 

 

“So this is the art classroom then?” Billie inquired as she curiously looked around the now empty classroom. It was lunch time but Danielle apparently spent her lunches in the art classroom. She told Billie that she could go find Tom and Kumail and eat lunch with them but Billie didn’t feel like spending forty minutes in a loud and crowded lunchroom with teenagers. The actress wasn’t used to hanging around this many teenagers and she felt overwhelmed. The empty art classroom was much nicer.

“Well, there’s a couple art classrooms. This is just the one for freestyle drawing and drawing II.” Danielle explained nervously as she ate her lunch at one of the tables. The redhead’s sketchbook was out as she absentmindedly sketched while she ate her sandwich. Billie nodded as she walked around the classroom.

She had been shadowing the senior high school student since first period. First there was AP Art History, Calculus(which made Billie feel like a clueless idiot), and Digital Drawing and Painting. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, Billie found the high school remotely interesting. She had only seen high school life in movies so it was weird seeing the reality side of it. The blonde didn’t favor the calculus class but other than that, everything had gone really well.

Danielle seemed to be a nice girl too. Not like the normal teenage girl Billie expected when Kevin originally informed her that she would be shadowing a high school student during her time at the school. The art student was very quiet and didn’t seem to have many friends. Billie could kind of relate to that on some level. She didn’t really have a ton of friends her own age either. Just Nellie and Matty from childhood. It’s not like she saw much of Nellie and Matty either. Billie’s schedule was very hectic and she spent most of her time around people who were twice her age.

“You know, you can totally go sit with Tom in the lunchroom if you want.” Danielle told her almost shyly as she observed the very famous actress walking around the classroom. Billie’s lunch, from Subway of all places, was untouched on the table next Danielle. “I know I’m kind of boring so I get it.”

Billie turned back to look at the other teenager and Danielle immediately blushed underneath Billie’s very direct gaze. She didn’t know how to explain it but the actress wasn’t what Danielle had expected at all. The art student expected someone very friendly and talkative but the actress didn’t seem to be either of those things. In fact, Danielle found that Billie was possibly just as quiet and reserved as she was. It wasn’t to say that Billie seemed rude or snobbish but she was just very quiet. Not in a shy way but in a reserved way as she silently observed everyone around her. It made Danielle even more curious about her.

“I’m actually fine.” Billie told her before turning back to look at the artwork adorning the walls of the classroom. “A room full of loud and rambunctious teenagers isn’t really my scene. I prefer this much more.” Danielle raised an eyebrow curiously at the actress because she spoke as if she didn’t consider herself to be a teenager.

“Besides...Tom’s the very charismatic and smiley one. Not me.” Billie went on to say. “I’ll let him do all the socializing.”

“He seems really nice.” Danielle said politely and the blonde shrugged.

“A little too nice for my liking. He gets on my nerves a lot.” Billie told her which only confused Danielle more. The actress then left the art student completely bewildered by what she said next. “You don’t have any friends, do you?”

“Oh, well I-” Danielle said as she stuttered and blushed before Billie interrupted her.

“That’s okay. I don’t have a lot of friends either.” Billie told her honestly. Danielle looked at her in disbelief.

“Yeah, right. You’re Billie Aufderheide. You probably have a million friends.” Danielle told the blonde as she laughed nervously. “You’re probably best friends with Taylor Swift and Gigi Hadid.”

“Swift’s squad reminds me of the high school cliques in teen rom-coms. I don’t believe in exclusivity.” Billie explained to redhead, seeming much older and wiser than Danielle would’ve expected. “Those people aren’t friends anyways. They’re a publicity stunt.”

“I just find it a little hard to believe. You’re, like, super famous. You seem like you’d be the most popular girl in any room.” Danielle said quietly and Billie shrugged.

“I have two friends from childhood and then I spent most of my time on television and movie sets with adults.” Billie explained to the other teenage girl. “I never went to a high school before so I never really hung out with kids my own age.” Billie only paused briefly before continuing.

“I only met kids through my childhood friends who actually go to high school so they’re more like friends of my two individual friends than anything else.” It was then that Danielle stopped seeing the actress as a celebrity but as an actual real person. “They probably only invite me to stuff and talk to me at parties because they think it’ll give them more Instagram followers.”

“Is Tom not your friend?” Danielle asked as she frowned and Billie shrugged once more.

“We’re not really there yet. I’m only friends with people I can count on one hundred percent.” Billie said vaguely but Danielle understood exactly what she meant. She understood because Billie's concept of choosing friends seemed similar to her own. “We don’t know each other well enough for me to consider him to be a friend.”

Billie had a lot of trust issues and she was super guarded.

You could blame her dad for that.

She was only talking to Danielle about the no friends thing because she felt as though Danielle might understand her on some level. It was something like a gut feeling she got when she looked at Danielle but it wasn't a gut feeling she got when she looked at Tom. This was never a conversation she thought to have with Tom because she already knew he wouldn’t understand.

Tom wasn’t like her in any way.

He didn’t have this fucked up way of keeping people at arm’s length. Billie even kept Matty, Nellie, and her own mother at arm’s length. The only person she ever felt like she could be honest with was Sebastian but that was different because he was...Sebastian.

She knew this was fucked up and she even knew she should even see a therapist like Sebastian suggested but Billie thought therapy was for people with too much time on their hands. Billie had issues but she didn’t think she had enough issues to warrant going to some overpaid quack’s office every night to bore them with details about her life that they could really give a shit less about. She could live with trust issues or at least...she could try living with trust issues.

Nevertheless, because of the fact that she didn’t trust people weren’t going to up and leave whenever they desired it, a part of Billie always expected it. Because then it hurt a lot less when those people did leave. Billie always told herself that when she was dating her ex, Teddy, and when he did finally dump her, it didn’t really hurt as much as she thought because she was prepared for it.

If you thought the worst of people then they never surprised you when they inevitably hurt you.

“I have friends.” Danielle admitted quietly much to Billie’s surprise as she broke the actress out of her thoughts. “When I went to middle school I had my friends Samantha, Austin, and Eric. But then I got the opportunity to go to this school and then I, by some miracle, got in but they went to a different high school. I thought I’d make friends here but I guess I never connected with anyone that way. I’m sort of invisible and not to mention I have no idea how to talk to people.”

“I don’t really know how to talk to people either. People my own age, at least.” Billie said, relating to Danielle about that. “You spend so much time around adults that you just don’t know how teenagers think. I’m pretty sure Tom thinks I’m a sociopath.” Danielle smiled.

“I don’t know. He was really friendly with you back in the hallway.” Danielle said cordially and Billie gave her a look.

“He’s only nice to me because he has to be.” Billie explained to her. “We work together so we have to put up with each other. It’s probably in our contracts or something.” Danielle just nodded but didn’t say anything because she didn’t know anything about the inner workings of Hollywood and it's actors and actresses.

“However, from what I’ve seen with just having spent a couple hours in the company of a lot of teenagers, I don’t think I’m missing out on much.” Danielle immediately laughed at Billie’s statement.

“Yeah, you’re really not. I’m actually envious of you for not having to go to high school. You’re lucky.” Danielle told her.

“Was that one kid in Calculus actually taking a selfie of himself drinking an energy drink? Like, who in their right mind would give a fuck about that?” Billie questioned and Danielle laughed once more but shrugged. “I thought this was supposed to be a genius school.”

“Yeah, you have to be book smart to get in but you definitely don’t have to be someone with common sense.” Danielle retorted and Billie just nodded as she continued to walk around the classroom, observing more of the art work hanging up on the wall.

“I didn’t know if I should mention this or not but I really liked that movie you did with Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. You know...Big Eyes.” Danielle mentioned shyly and Billie glanced back at her curiously. “Margaret Keane is one of my influences. I’m absolutely obsessed with her.”

“That was a fun film to work on.” Billie said as she continued to stare at the art on the wall. “I was really excited to work with Tim, Amy, and Christoph on it. I have to admit that I didn’t know who Margaret Keane was before I did it but it was a very nice learning experience for me. She went through so much yet she overcame it all and won her work back. She’s a role model a lot of young girls should have.”

“Did you meet her?” Danielle asked nervously, her eyes widening a bit. Billie nodded.

“She was there for a few days on set to help Amy with the role. I also talked a bit with her at the premiere.” Billie informed the teenage girl who looked positively enthralled by all of this.

“What was she like?” Danielle asked, an awestruck look on her face. Billie smiled.

“She was very quiet and sweet. She was perhaps the sweetest person I’d ever met. Very grandmotherly.” Billie mentioned to Danielle who was quick to soak in all this information. “It’s why it was so unimaginable that anyone would treat her the way her husband did. It made you want to go back in time to beat the shit out of the guy.”

“That’s why she’s one of my favorite artists. Not just because of her style but because she’s been through so much and still overcame it all.” Danielle said quietly. “I would’ve been so hurt and angry if someone took credit for my work...to just sit there and watch them do it too. It must’ve been pure torture.”

“I can only imagine.” Billie said as one of the drawings on the wall took her attention away.

It was a very detailed and beautiful sketch of a woman looking at her reflection in a mirror. The detail and elegance to it instantly took Billie’s breath away in a way she didn’t think art could make her do. It wasn’t so much the style or even the beauty of the woman in the drawing that left Billie in awe. It was the emotion conveyed on her face. Billie wasn’t much of an art lover. She knew almost nothing about art but it was like she suddenly understood the significance of it as she looked at the drawing. Billie then glanced down and noticed the signature on the bottom.

Danielle Wheeler.

“You did this?” Billie asked as she turned back to look at the redhead with a wide eyed look on her face. Danielle looked up and blushed when she saw what picture Billie was looking at.

“Oh. Yeah, that was just a class assignment I had to do.” Danielle said shyly and Billie looked back at the picture in awe.

“It’s beautiful.” Billie said, not knowing how else to describe the picture.

“Thanks. It’s not my best work but I really like how the eyes turned out.” Danielle told her and Billie just shook her head, almost speechless.

“I didn’t know people in drawings could look so emotional and human but…” Billie trailed off as she focused in on the girl’s eyes in the drawing. “She’s smiling but it’s fake. Just look at her eyes. There’s a real sadness and vulnerability there. This is so incredible.”

“Thanks again but I’ve honestly done a lot better and I had to redo the nose a few times-” Danielle started to nervously ramble but Billie stopped her.

“Don’t be modest.” Billie said bluntly as she walked back over to the table Danielle was sitting at her. Billie took a seat across from her as Danielle watched in bewilderment. “When you’re that talented you shouldn’t be modest. You should own it and show it off.”

“Is that what you do? With acting, I mean?” Danielle asked her and she watched as a certain sadness reached the blonde’s eyes but the sadness was gone so fast that Danielle thought she might’ve imagined it.

“Anyone can act. Just give them proper schooling, an acting coach, or several years on a television series. It’s not rocket science.” Billie said cynically. “However, what you have is something that can’t be taught. It’s just...talent. Pure and simple.”

“You’re too nice.” Danielle said, still feeling a bit shy from Billie’s praise. The actress just smirked at her.

“That’s the last word most people would use to describe me.” Billie retorted before a more serious look crossed her face as she thought of something else. “You know, I think my agent has Margaret Keane’s email address somewhere. If you want you could send me a digital copy of your portfolio and I could send it to her. I’m not an expert on art but I’m sure she’d love to see your work.” Danielle’s jaw dropped.

“W-What?” Danielle questioned, unable to say anything else. Billie just nodded.

“She’s really nice and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind taking a look at it.” Billie explained and Danielle nodded slowly.

“I mean...that would be awesome.” Danielle said, still lacking in words. “But only if you’re okay with that. I wouldn’t want to be too much trouble or anything.”

“It’s not a problem. My work is minimal right now...hence, why I’m attending high school.” Billie told the girl jokingly and Danielle laughed before smiling at the blonde.

“That’s really nice of you. Thanks. I really appreciate it.” Danielle said softly, still in disbelief over the fact that not only was she hanging out with an incredibly famous actress but said famous actress was going to send her portfolio to Danielle’s favorite artist of all time.

“Well, you’re a way better artist than me. The only thing I can draw is a reasonably good penguin.” Billie told her, causing the redhead to laugh again.

The two teenage girls then started up a different and more focused conversation as Billie started asking her questions about her art and what inspired said art. The questions were obviously more research based for Billie’s role as Emma Rogers but Billie felt a bit better now than she had before. She hadn’t completely understood art or even what might’ve made Emma start to delve into those kinds of waters in Age of Ultron.

Now, however, she understood that art was an outlet for emotions in a lot of ways. It wasn’t just wanting to draw something pretty or something that was nice to look at. It was about expressing your deepest emotions and thoughts. It wasn’t too different from when a writer wrote a story or even when an actor performed a scene. Billie supposed that she could even appreciate her own job a little more in that sense.

Maybe acting was more of an art form than she originally thought.

 

 

Billie’s last class of the day was AP English Literature. She had just gotten through a freestyle drawing class, AP Government, and now there was just AP English Literature. No one seemed to pay much attention to Billie other than the teachers who apparently weren’t informed of who she was. They just introduced her as the new foreign exchange student.   
Billie’s cover story was that she signed up for the semester long foreign exchange program and that she was from Munich. Her English wasn’t that good which was why she rarely spoke but she could understand English well enough. Billie even made up a ridiculous story about her parents being German chocolatiers.

She honestly couldn’t believe they bought it but why wouldn’t they?

“But, like, what’s your deal?” Billie heard a girl say in the row behind her. The blonde actress curiously turned to look at the person speaking. She noticed a girl with long, straight brunette hair sitting there with a dumbfounded look on her face. She was kind of cute, Billie thought. In a high school cheerleader way maybe. Unlike Billie, the girl was wearing a ton of makeup, a cute floral printed skirt, a Rihanna concert t-shirt and a pair of Keds. It was only then that Billie noticed that she was talking to Tom who had a grin on his face. Billie narrowed her eyes at him.

What the hell was he up to this time?

“Do you really want to know?” Tom asked her and Billie could’ve sworn he was flirting with the girl. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Was he seriously trying to pick up girls at a high school. Someone must be desperate, Billie thought to herself.

“Alright...I’m Spider-Man and that girl over there is the Viper Assassin. Tell her, Billie.” Tom then nodded in Billie’s direction and Billie was quick to drop the disgusted look on her face, replacing it with a feigned look of confusion.

“Ich spreche kein englisch(I don’t speak English).” Billie told him in perfect German, this time no trace of her Texan accent, before turning back around in her seat. The girl, Tom was trying to impress, only laughed.

“You’re fucking nuts, bro.” The girl told him as Tom just glared at the back of Billie’s head before something the girl said took Tom’s attention away.

“She kind of looks like her, I guess, but Billie Aufderheide’s way prettier.” The girl said thoughtfully, not aware that she was probably being very rude. “Billie Aufderheide’s a model too, you know, for Miu Miu. Well, I don’t know if she’s technically a model but she’s always in all their fashion campaigns. My dad actually just got me the purse she had in the holiday campaign. It was the best Christmas present ever.”

Tom looked over at Billie worriedly. He was afraid that the girl might’ve hurt Billie’s feelings. He didn’t think the girl was being intentionally rude by saying Billie wasn’t as pretty as herself, not that it made much sense, but it was still kind of rude. He took a closer look at the blonde actress but he soon realized he had no reason to worry. 

Tom saw that Billie was very discreetly hiding a smirk behind her book as she pretended to read. He just shook his head in disbelief. He couldn’t believe she was actually amused by this. Of course, Billie probably would be amused by something like this. She was Billie, after all. 

“Never ask me about Billie Aufderheide. I could talk about her all day.” The girl continued to ramble on and Tom realized that he was talking to Billie’s number one fan. “You should see her on Mad Men. Sally Draper always wears the cutest outfits. I literally just watch the show to see Billie on it.”

“I’ve seen Mad Men too. It’s a good show. Billie Aufderheide’s an amazing actress.” Tom said without tearing his gaze away from the back of Billie’s blonde head. The blonde just acted like she wasn’t paying attention to them as she kept reading her book.

“I really wanted to see her in that off-broadway Steven Soderbergh play she did last year but the tickets were all sold out.” The girl said, seeming disappointed and this confused Tom because he wasn’t aware that Billie had done any work on stage nor was he aware that she worked with Steven Soderbergh. He was actually really impressed. “It sucks because I heard she was really good in it.”

“I’m sure she was.” Tom said, sounding very confident because he knew Billie was an incredibly talented actress. He mostly just did fight scenes with her when they did Civil War together so he didn’t have an opportunity to really share an emotional or complex scene with her but that only made him more excited for when they filmed the new Spider-Man movie together. He was hoping to have a lot more screen time with her.

The girl then shifted the conversation over to who she thought Billie was dating which made Tom a bit uncomfortable since he feared his new friend’s reaction but Billie had no reaction. She just kept reading her book and not speaking another word to either of them. Tom wondered if Billie would ever become boring to him. Probably not. Billie Aufderheide was the least boring person he knew.

 

 

“Hey, Billie!” Tom called out as he raced after the actress as soon as the bell rang for school to end. Billie was being picked up by her grandfather who, by some miracle, finally figured out how to use Uber. She was walking down the front steps of the school building as she tried to spot her grandfather in the crowd of people. God, she really hated New York. It was so crowded and loud. Billie really missed Texas at this point. When she heard Tom call her name, she immediately turned around to look at him. 

“Be quiet.” Billie hissed with annoyed look on her face. “You might be willing to tell those kids who you are but I’m not.” Tom blushed before giving her an apologetic look.

“Right, sorry, Ilse.” Tom said before giving her a curious look. “I’m also sorry that I put you on the spot like that back in the classroom. I totally get why you wouldn’t want to play along. I didn’t mean to jeopardize your privacy.” The annoyed look then fell off Billie’s face as she gave the nineteen year old boy an amused look.

“Jeopardize my privacy? Wow...you’re very formal.” Billie told him before shaking her head. “I actually wasn’t playing along because I refuse to help you try to sink your claws into those poor high school girls.”

“What?” Tom questioned, looking incredibly confused by the actress’s look of nonchalance.

“Are you really so desperate that you have to scour high schools for a girlfriend? Is that why you signed us up for this shit show? So you could find yourself an American girlfriend?” Billie said but it was clear at this point that she was just teasing him. Tom was glad to not have annoyed her again but now he found himself to be the annoyed one in their weird friendship.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Tom mumbled and Billie just smirked at him.

“I’m Spider-Man. Go ahead and google me so you can see for yourself.” Billie said as she then mimicked Tom, her voice going up a couple octaves higher while she did a terrible British accent. She sounded like Oliver Twist asking for more porridge. Tom glared at her.

“I don’t sound like that.” He retorted and Billie gave him a doubtful look.

“You totally do.” Billie argued and Tom rolled his eyes at her.

“I change my mind. You’re actually worse than Anthony Mackie.” Tom informed her. "Besides...I think the girl was more interested in you than she was me. I had to listen to all kinds of Billie Aufderheide gossip for the remainder of class." Billie just continued to smirk at him.

“Serves you right for opening your big mouth." Billie quipped before continuing to tease him. "So what’s with flirting with all these high school girls, Holland? You can’t get a girlfriend back in England so you’re trying to see who’s desperate enough to date you here.” Billie continued to tease and Tom shook his head in disbelief.

“Don’t make it sound like that.” Tom told her and Billie raised her eyebrows, playing dumb.

“Make it sound like what?” Billie questioned and Tom sighed heavily before answering.

“Like I’m some kind of pervert.” Tom said in annoyance. “I’m not that much older than the kids here and you’re the same age as those kids too. It wouldn’t be weird if I asked you out on a date. We’re only two years apart.” Tom’s eyes then widened as he blushed when he realized what he just said. He checked to see Billie’s reaction but she only looked amused if nothing else. The blonde then shrugged.

“I’ve dated men much older than you.” Billie said casually although she was making it sound like she was much more experienced than she was. While her ex-boyfriend was definitely older than both her and Tom, he was also the only boyfriend she ever had. Unless you counted Walker Townsend from the third grade but she actually didn’t think that counted. Tom gave the girl a confused look.

“How much older?” Tom inquired and Billie just smirked at him.

“Older.” Billie said a bit smugly and Tom wasn’t really sure he liked her response. What did she mean by that? Did she mean her ex-boyfriend was three years older than her? Four years? Five years? Tom was suddenly dying to know but he decided not to push her any further because he didn’t think Billie would give him an exact answer.

“What about you? You didn’t see any guys you were interested in?” Tom asked her and Billie wrinkled her nose in disgust. 

“Unlike you, I don’t need to go shopping around a high school for a boyfriend.” Billie told him and he just rolled his eyes.

“What? You only date guys who are incredibly famous and good looking?” Tom asked her and Billie didn’t know what he meant at first. “I read somewhere that you were dating Harry Styles. I suppose it makes sense.” Now Billie really was grossed out. She scoffed. 

“Yes, because everything you read on the internet is true.” Billie said sarcastically. “No, I’m not dating Taylor Swift’s leftovers. I have too much dignity to date the member of some boy band. Not to mention he has an annoying ass accent.”

“Hey, he almost has the same accent as me.” Tom reminded her but Billie just nodded.

“I know.” Billie retorted and Tom just laughed as he shook his head at her. There would never be a day she ceased to amuse him. “The difference is that I get paid to spend time with you so I have to put up with your accent. You know, not every American girl are like the ones in Love Actually. We don't all fawn over a so-called cute English accent.”

“So you don’t find my accent to be sexy?” Tom asked her teasingly as he smirked at her. “You’d never date an Englishmen like myself?”

“Nope. I mean, I’d make an exception for Alex Turner and Matthew Healy but that’s about it.” Billie told him, playing along with their usual banter. “The Scottish accent on the other hand is way more attractive to me.”

“The Scottish accent? Well, now I’m really insulted, love.” Tom told her, feigning a hurt look and a pinched look came across Billie’s face.

“Don’t call me that.” Billie told him and Tom gave her an amused look before playing dumb.

“Call you what?” Tom asked teasingly and Billie glared at him.

“You know what.” Billie grumbled and Tom just laughed at her usual grumpiness.

“Relax, Billie. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just a British thing.” Tom explained to her even though Billie already knew that. She scoffed.

“Yeah, well, you don’t see me going around and calling you “Honey Pie” just because I’m from Texas.” Billie retorted.

There wasn’t a lot of non-embarrassing pet names in the South. Honey Pie was probably the lamest one. She heard it on multiple occasions whenever she went to the old diner in Lindale. It was usually something those old men, who still said “Howdy”, said to their waitress. Billie always wrinkled her nose in disgust at the nickname. If someone ever called Billie “Honey Pie”, she’d probably flip them off.

“You can call me that if you want.” Tom retorted and Billie immediately glared at him. Even though the two teenagers would deny it if anyone asked them, they were completely flirting with each other. “Come on, Billie. I was just joking. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“I don’t think we’re there yet, Holland.” Billie said as she gave him a suspicious look. A dumbfounded look then crossed the young actor’s face as he looked at the blonde.

“What do you mean?” He asked her.

“I don’t move that fast. Ask me again in a year and I’ll have an answer for you.” Billie told him seriously but Tom wasn’t offended. It was just Billie being her usual weird self. He smiled softly at her.

“Okay, Billie.” Tom said as he locked eyes with her. Billie felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. A normal person would probably walk away from her in anger if she said something like that but Tom just smiled at her. Maybe he was just as weird as she was but in a totally different way. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I consider you to be my friend.”

“It doesn’t make me feel any better, actually. You should really be more careful with the friends you make.” Billie muttered but Tom’s smile was unwavering.

“So are we heading back to our hotel? Maybe we could go out to eat or something later.” Tom suggested and Billie shook her head.

“I actually can’t. I’m going shopping right now then I’m meeting a director for dinner.” Billie informed him and Tom couldn’t lie. He was a bit disappointed that Billie already had plans for the afternoon and evening.

“Oh, well, that’s good. What director?” Tom asked curiously despite his disappointment in not spending more time with her. 

“Greta Gerwig. She’s directing this indie film I really want to do. I’m supposed to read some lines from the script with her later so hopefully it goes well.” Billie told him and Tom really didn’t think she had anything to worry about. There was no doubt in his mind that she was a phenomenal actress. She could probably get any part she wanted.

“I’m sure you’ll get the part.” Tom reassured her and Billie smiled at him, genuinely this time, before he changed the subject. “I saw that movie trailer by the way. The one for the Seth Rogen and Zac Efron movie you did. It looks really hilarious.” Billie just shrugged.

“It was kind of a last minute thing.” Billie admitted before playfully smirking at Tom. “I make a good stoner, don’t I? Very convincing probably.” Tom blushed as a sudden nervous look came over his face.

“Oh, I-Well, I didn’t think-” Tom stammered but Billie interrupted him before he embarrassed himself too much.

“Relax, Holland. I’m not one of those child actors.” Billie said as she continued to tease him. Well, she was actually flirting with him but she’d never admit that to anyone or even herself. Just like Tom wouldn’t admit it to himself when he flirted back. “I’m a good girl. I promise.” 

“That’s uh...good to know.” Tom said, feeling a little bit shy all of a sudden. “So you must’ve been keeping busy recently. I remember you texting me something about that M. Knight Shyamalan film you were working on.” Billie nodded. 

“Yeah, we just wrapped on that movie a couple weeks ago. Sorry I was bad about texting you back.” Billie said as she surprised Tom by actually apologizing for something. “I didn’t really have a ton of time to text or talk much on that movie. Knight wanted James and I to be kind of isolated.” Billie mentioned and a goofy smile crossed Tom’s face as he just shook his head at her.

“You just call him Knight.” Tom said in amazement. “That’s how cool you are. You just call them Knight and James.”

“As opposed to what?” Billie questioned and Tom smirked at her. 

“So you liked hanging out with James McAvoy...since you’re apparently a fan of the Scottish accent.” Tom teased and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Very funny, Holland.” Billie said sarcastically. “I don’t really think James cares for me that way. He was way more uncomfortable with the kissing scene than I was. He treated me like I was some kind of disease. James McAvoy really knows how to make a girl feel special.” 

“I’m sure he was just concerned because of the age difference.” Tom said, reassuringly and Billie knew he was right in a way. “I imagine it would’ve been creepier if he wasn’t uncomfortable.” 

“I guess.” Billie said in a way that was so nonchalant that she made Tom frown. Tom didn’t really understand her. Shouldn’t a girl her age be creeped out by kissing a much older co-star? Tom didn’t really know what the so called scene was about but any sort of kiss between two co-stars, with a lot of years between them, must’ve been awkward and slightly disturbing. Especially since Tom knew that Billie’s biological father must’ve been around the same age as James McAvoy.

“So um...do you need some company while you go shopping? I’m not sure of how much help I’d be but I think it could be fun.” Tom suggested as he changed the subject. 

Billie raised an eyebrow because she didn’t think she had ever met a guy who was willing to go shopping with her. Billie was someone who was very much into fashion. She never used to be, always being the tomboy when she was little, but after starring on Mad Men, which was a show full of beautiful and stunning outfits from the sixties, Billie had developed an eye for fashion. It was probably the most girly part about her. Billie had a certain weakness for clothes and she happened to be in New York City which had a lot of her favorite stores.

“You want to go shopping with me, Holland?” Billie asked him in amusement. “Do this mean we’re girlfriends now?” Tom just laughed.

“No, I just...well, I thought it might be fun.” Tom said a bit shyly and Billie kind of thought he was adorable in that moment. She’d never tell him so but it was just an observation. 

“You don’t want to go shopping with me. You’ll be waiting around for hours.” Billie told him and she was telling the truth. She drove her mom and grandfather insane whenever she went shopping because she had to look through everything in the entire store to make sure she didn’t miss anything. Not to mention the time and effort she took in trying out outfits. However, she took even longer when she visited her favorite record store in New York. Billie could be stuck inside there for hours. 

“I don’t mind.” Tom said hurriedly. In all honesty, he didn’t care what they did. He just wanted to spend more time with his new friend. Tom missed Billie in the time they were apart. He missed how everyday was like an adventure with her. Tom didn’t fail to notice how much boring everything seemed to be without her. He wondered if their other co-stars felt the same without Billie around.

She was definitely an enigma.

Billie smiled but shook her head.

“My grandfather’s actually going with me so I don’t think I’ll need much help. Trust me, you don’t want to be waiting around with him. He’s not a very pleasant person to be around.” Billie said, rejecting Tom’s offer. Billie was surprised to feel a pang in her chest from the sad and almost dejected look on his face when she said that. She suddenly felt like she had kicked a puppy from the sad look in his brown eyes. 

“Oh, that’s okay. Maybe another time then.” Tom said, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice. Billie swallowed hard as she stared at him, feeling like a total asshole for rejecting his offer. It was clear he just wanted to hang out with her but Billie didn’t really see shopping as a thing to do with friends. She was way too serious about it to distract herself with friends. Billie didn’t really like how he was making her feel about this whole thing. Stupid Holland and his pretty brown eyes. He was softening her up and she didn’t like it.

“Well, I’m kind of busy today but maybe tomorrow we could do something. After we get out of this shit hole they call a school, I mean.” Billie said slowly and Tom’s eyes seemed to light up at her new suggestion.

“Like what?” He asked her and Billie shrugged.

“Have you ever been to New York before?” Billie inquired and Tom shook his head.

“My parents took my brothers and I here during summer holiday a few years ago but I haven’t really been here since and I have no idea where anything is.” Tom explained to her.

“Maybe tomorrow I could show you around.” Billie suggested quietly. “I’ve been to New York several times in the past. It’s definitely not San Antonio but nothing is.” Tom honestly wanted to go to San Antonio to see what was so amazing about it. Billie always talked about how great San Antonio was and now Tom really had to wonder.

“That sounds great.” Tom said, already excited about tomorrow. He was beginning to think that maybe Billie was starting to see him as a friend even if she didn’t say so.

Tom hoped so. 

All this Hollywood stuff was slightly terrifying to him and it was nice to have a first friend from Hollywood who could kind of guide him through it. Billie seemed like the best person to seek advice from about it. She had been working in Hollywood since she was eight or nine. Tom had been acting for a long time too but he had never really done the Hollywood thing until now.

“I’m having dinner with Sebastian tomorrow night but you’re welcomed to join us.” Billie said, extending an invitation to him. She’d inform Sebastian later that Tom would probably join them for dinner. Billie wasn’t sure how Sebastian was going to react to that. He was a bit like her in the sense that he was a bit closed off to new people at first but Billie thought Tom was an okay guy. Billie just hoped that Sebastian didn’t tease her about Tom like he normally did.

“I’d really like that.” Tom said, feeling very grateful for Billie’s newfound friendliness.

He had to be honest.

Tom was a bit nervous at the aspect of having dinner with Billie and Sebastian Stan. Especially since Tom had barely spoken to the man and he was a bit worried about feeling like a third wheel in Billie’s friendship with the actor. 

“Anyways...I should get going. My grandfather’s here to pick me up.” Billie pointed out as she looked into the distance and saw her grandfather leaning against an Uber car. 

Tom immediately followed her gaze and noticed an older but still very handsome man leaning against a car. The man didn’t look to be that much older than Tom’s own father but then he remembered that Billie had very young parents. Her grandfather seemed to be on the youngish side too. Another thing Tom noticed about Billie’s grandfather was the fact that the man was incredibly tall. He had to be even taller than Chris Hemsworth, Tom thought to himself.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, I suppose.” Tom said as he started to bid the blonde actress good-bye. 

“If I don’t see you later tonight at the hotel, good luck with that director.” Billie smiled at him and nodded.

“Thanks and I’ll definitely see you later.” Billie told him before she proceeded to walk away from him. He didn’t know what struck him to say what he said next. Maybe some kind of false confidence Billie gave him from her discreet flirting or just wanting to shock her somehow. Tom even surprised himself by what he said.

“Hey, Aufderheide!” Tom called out to her. The schoolyard had mostly cleared out by then and no one around seemed to pay the two any mind. Billie quickly turned around to look back at him with a confused look on her face. Tom smirked at her. “You might think my accent’s annoying but I happen to find yours to be very sexy. It’s quite possibly the sexiest accent I’ve ever heard.”

It was hard to describe the emotion that crossed Billie’s face in that moment but it was even harder to determine what might’ve been going through her mind. She appeared shocked in one instance but then disbelief seemed to take the place of that emotion in the next. It was almost like she didn’t seem to believe him when he said it even though Tom was telling the truth. Billie rolled her eyes at the English actor. 

“Fuck off, Holland.” Billie told him shortly before she quickly turned back around to walk towards her grandfather and the car waiting for her.

Tom watched her leave with a look of amusement on his face. She really didn’t cease in surprising him. Tom just told her that he liked her accent and she told him to fuck off. For some reason this made Tom glad to have her as a friend, even if she still didn’t consider him to be her own friend, because he didn’t have any friends that were like her.

There was only one Billie Aufderheide.

It was only then that Tom felt a pair of eyes on him and he looked up but only to meet her grandfather’s angry gaze. Tom gulped at the German man’s piercing glare. He had honestly forgotten about her grandfather for a second there. He gave the man a weak smile and waved at him but the man only narrowed his eyes suspiciously before he ushered an oblivious Billie into the car. Billie’s grandfather soon followed after the teenage girl and didn’t spare Tom another look. 

Tom watched them drive away with a defeated look on his face. At least he knew where Billie got her charming personality from.

The nineteen year old sighed heavily because he hadn’t even been introduced to Billie’s grandfather properly yet and the man already hated him. Maybe Billie was right. Maybe he really needed to learn how to shut his “Pie-Hole” as she called it. Billie actually seemed be right about a lot of things. It was something both annoying yet incredible about her.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie and Tom spend the day getting to know each other through the best way possible...music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry the chapter took so long but I just got sidetracked between getting a job and other things in general. So I made the decision to cut this chapter in half because it ended up being over 20,000 words long. The next chapter will be out soon. Thank you guys so much for your patience. Let me know what you think of the chapter.

  
 

* * *

  
  
_**Lindale, Texas** _

**_2005_ **

_Shuffling footsteps down the hall woke seven -year-old Billie from her slumber. The little girl drowsily opened her eyes, fully believing she would see sunlight streaming in from the window when she finally awoke but she saw no such thing. Her room was still dark with nothing illuminating it except for a tiny night light plugged into a power outlet on the opposite side of her room. Mr. Gator, her favorite stuffed alligator, was tucked underneath her arm as she slowly sat up in bed._

_The small girl was in a state of confusion at being woken up when it was still so dark outside._

_Billie immediately got up from her bed, her Power Puff Girl comforter slipping off  of her as she finally left the safety of her own bed. She tiredly walked out of the room, her small feet cold from the hardwood floor, as she kept Mr. Gator safely tucked under her arm._

_The small blonde opened the door of her bedroom to investigate the noise that woke her up._

_The house was still completely dark as she padded out to the living room. The seven-year-old rubbed her eyes tiredly as she focused on movement she could see through the darkness. It was only then that she realized it was her father. Billie squinted her eyes through the darkness as she tried to determine what he was doing. She saw his old suitcase on the floor as he quickly moved back and forth, from the living room to the kitchen, almost as if he were in a hurry._

_“Daddy?” Billie questioned as she stood there in the doorway of the living room. Ethan McCallister immediately paused in his search as he looked back at his daughter. He swallowed hard because he hadn’t expected her to be there._

_“Hey, Darlin’,” Ethan said as he faked a smile._

_“What are you doing?” Billie asked him, her innocent eyes looking up at him. Ethan’s face flushed red before he quickly came up with an answer. He was always smooth like and he always had an answer for everything. It was all part of his sleazy way._

_“I got a job up in Tampa. There’s a real nice opportunity for me there, darlin’,” Ethan told her convincingly. “I got a chance to play on a big team up there. I won’t be gone for long and I’ll send money back home to you and your mama. It’ll be temporary.”_

_This was only a half lie, he told himself. He did have a job waiting for him in Tampa but it wasn’t playing baseball. A friend of his owned a business up in Tampa that he needed to get off the ground. His friend needed someone like Ethan who was very smooth and good at talking. There was a lot of money involved but Ethan knew he would never be able to talk his nagging wife and daughter into going Sarah would never approve so he was just going to go._

_This town had gotten too small for him anyways. There was bigger and better things in store for him. Billie would understand it one day when she was older. Small spaces weren't meant for the McCallisters. She’d grow bored of the small town and she’d leave too someday. Maybe she’d even come visit him in Tampa when she was old enough._

_“But I don’t want you to go,” Billie said, her eyes flooding with tears. Of course, Ethan should’ve expected the tears. He didn’t really understand the tears but he should’ve expected them. Ethan was never really close with his own father so he didn’t get why Billie always followed him around so much. She was a daddy’s girl he supposed._

_“I know but I have to,” Ethan said as he kneeled down in front of her. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be back before you know it.”_

_Billie sniffled._

_“Really?” She asked in a small voice and he smiled before nodding._

_“Of course,” Ethan promised as he ran his thumb across her cheek. “I’ll be back soon and then we can work on that knuckle curveball you’ve been wanting to practice. I’ll even teach it to you myself.”_

_“I’ve been wanting to learn that forever, daddy,” Billie said excitedly as the sadness disappeared from her face. The aspect of her father teaching her the knuckle curveball seemed to do the trick in making her forget about her father leaving._

_“I know you have, darlin’,” Ethan told her as he chuckled at the excited look on her face. “And I’ll teach it to you the second I get home.”_

_“I can’t wait,” Billie told him and Ethan smiled before nodding._

_“I really should be going or I’ll be late. It’s a long drive to Tampa from here. I need to get an early start,” Ethan said, trying to excuse himself before Sarah woke up and found out what he was doing. He’d rather not have a huge screaming match with her._

_“Okay, daddy,” Billie said amenably. Ethan smiled before leaning over and kissing her on the forehead. He then pulled away to look at her._

_“You be a good girl for you mama, okay?” Ethan told her with a serious look on his face. “Don’t be giving her any trouble now.”_

_“I won’t. I promise,” Billie said to him and Ethan grinned before finally standing up._

_“That’s good to hear,” Ethan told her as he picked up his two suitcases. “Keep practicing your baseball and I’ll teach you that knuckle curveball the second I get back.”_

_"Okay, daddy. I love you. Good-bye,” She told him as he began to walk out the front door. He only paused in the doorway for a minute before looking over his shoulder at her. He gave her a warm smile which Billie would never forget. Even years later because the smile still made her heart ache all those years later._

_“I love you too, darlin’,” He said softly and with that, he turned back around and walked out the door. The screen door slammed behind him as he left and walked to his car. The sun was only just beginning to rise at this point in time._

_Billie heard the car engine start and she immediately ran over to window in the living room with Mr. Gator still tucked underneath her arm. She pressed her hands against the cold glass window as she saw her father begin to pull out of the driveway._

_Billie grinned and waved excitedly at her father as he began to drive off. He grinned back at her with a wave of his own before he turned the car around, continuing his path down the dirt road. She watched excitedly as his Plymouth Road Runner raced down that familiar dirt road, leaving a cloud of dust behind him._

_Her daddy would come home soon._

_He’d come home and when he did, he’d teach her how to throw that knuckle curveball like he promised. Billie was sure she’d impress all the boys on her baseball team with that move. They’d probably beat all those other teams too when the season came around again. Those same boys on the other team who teased her because she was a girl...well, she would show them and her daddy would help in the process.._

_Billie just couldn’t wait for the day when he’d finally return to them._

_Little did seven-year-old Billie know that her father would never return home from Tampa. In fact, that last glimpse of his Plymouth Road Runner going down the dirt road was the last time she would ever see him. Ten years would pass and there would still not be a sign of him._

_Her mother cried her heart out that first week after he left when she realized he wasn’t coming back. It took Billie longer to realize that he wasn’t coming back. Months even._

_It turned out he lied about everything because he didn’t send any money. He didn’t even call or send an e-mail._

_Her father just left._

* * *

 

Tom noticed that Billie seemed a bit off for the past half an hour during their last class of the day. She usually seemed so focused that the distant look in her eyes threw him off. The blonde actress was staring out the window, looking as though she was world’s away. This seemed to trouble Tom for some reason.

He then tore his gaze away when he realized that he had been staring at her for too long.

Tom didn’t mean to be creepy or anything but he was just worried.

Class soon let out, putting an end to day two of their little high school visit. Billie left the classroom without sparing him a glance so Tom just followed her out of the school.

He was starting to wonder if maybe she forgot about them hanging out after school. She didn’t say anything for the longest time. Not even when she got into the car Marvel lent them and still not when the driver starting driving down the street, asking them about where they wanted him to take them. Tom finally decided it was time to get Billie’s attention.

“Billie, we’re still hanging out right?” Tom asked somewhat hesitantly.

Billie blinked twice as she snapped out of her thoughts. She turned and noticed Tom sitting next to her in the backseat of the car while gazing at her expectantly. It was only then that she realized that she was, in fact, in the backseat of a car and not in that classroom at the school.

Wow, was she really that out of it?

It only took a minute for Billie to gather her bearings, remembering that she and Tom were going to hang out together. That’s what she agreed to yesterday, at least. Billie fully intended to keep that promise too.

“Where are we going?” Tom asked her, looking both curious and worried about her behavior.

Great, that’s just what Billie needed.

Another worried person.

She already got enough of that from her mother and grandfather.

“There’s this record and coffee shop in Astoria I’ve always wanted to go to,” Billie informed Tom before glancing up at the driver. “The shop’s on Steinway St.”

“I know just where it is,” The driver told her before turning his signal light on and making a left-handed turned. Tom looked even more curious at this.

“A record store?” Tom asked her and Billie shrugged.

“You’re the one who said you wanted to accompany me while I shop,” Billie pointed out and Tom shook his head.

“No, I just didn’t think you listened to vinyl,” Tom said and Billie just stared back at him.

“Why wouldn’t I listen to vinyl?” She asked him and Tom shrugged.

“I don’t know. I guess I just meant that I don’t even know what kind of music you listen to,” Tom said, looking quite interested in what kind of music Billie might’ve listened to. The kind of music a person listened to said a lot about that person “I mean, I know you listen to some country. Rock too, you mentioned. Eagles and Alice Cooper, right?”

“Among other things,” Billie said, actually looking surprised that Tom remembered that about her. He was referring to the argument she had with Mackie and Bettany about who was the greatest rock band of all time. Billie just didn’t know he remembered that.

“What else do you listen to?” Tom asked her and Billie smiled. He could suddenly sense that music was a topic she was very much into. It was clearly something she had an opinion about.

“A bit of everything, I guess,” Billie told him just as she started feeling more invested in this conversation. “Indie rock, alternative rock, indie pop, alternative pop, a limited amount of mainstream pop, singer-songwriter, indie folk, grunge, classic rock, 90s country...but I like some modern country like Kacey Musgraves and Chris Stapleton too. Those two are probably the only two modern country artists I like now that I think about it.

Tom was a little taken back by all that. This was probably the closest thing to rambling he had ever seen Billie come to. That was a lot to take in but somehow Tom didn’t think he minded too much. It was nice to have an actual real conversation with her. One where her responses weren’t short and sarcastic.

“Quick question...what’s the difference between indie and alternative?” Tom asked her, once he decided not to comment on her sudden talkativeness. “Is it not the same thing?”

“Well, indie means independent which also means slightly more obscure artists that a majority of people probably haven’t heard of. They’re not really signed to a major label,” Billie explained to Tom, not looking like she minded explaining all of this in the least bit. “Alternative can still be mainstream in a sense. It’s just music that’s different than what would be considered the norm. Does that make sense?”

“I think so,” Tom said, still sounding a bit unsure. “Could you give me some examples?”

Billie nodded and she happily did so.

“Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots, and Cage the Elephant would be alternative rock,” Billie continued to explain and Tom nodded his head in recognition. He recognized each of those bands. “Just like Mitski, Bleachers, and Father John Misty would be Indie Rock.”

“I think I get it now,” Tom said as he nodded once more but this time in understanding. “Mostly because I’ve never heard of those last couple musicians.”

Billie laughed.

“I don’t blame you. Most people haven’t,” Billie told him before giving him a curious look. Tom’s heart skipped a beat when her gaze focused on him. “What kind of music do you listen to anyways?”

“A lot of pop and some rap too, I suppose,” Tom told her as he thought about the different artists he listened to. “Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Drake, Kendrick Lamar...stuff similar to that.”

“You didn’t mention you listen to rap? Do you?” Tom asked curiously after he looked back at her. It was only because he thought of Kendrick Lamar and Drake that he remembered that Billie hadn’t mentioned if she listened to rap.

“Not a lot of it. I do like Drake and Kendrick Lamar...for the most part,” Billie said honestly. “I just find a lot of rap to be misogynistic.”

“How so?” Tom inquired with a confused look on his face. Billie looked at him as if it were obvious.

“I’m not saying all of it’s this way but a lot of it’s about beating and raping women, Eminem in other words . Even when it’s not, it’s all about some guy bragging about all the “pussy” he’s gotten and “ass-eating” he’s done,” Billie said casually as if she were discussing the weather. “If I wanted to hear some man bragging about all the sex he’s supposedly had I’d watch _Entourage_.”

Tom stared at her in shock, his face slowly turning red from the explicitness of Billie’s words. He honestly couldn’t believe she just said that.

“What?” Billie asked him after noticing that he’d been staring at her for quite some time.

“Billie, you can’t just say those things,” Tom said quietly and Billie raised an eyebrow.

“Why? Are you offended I called rap music misogynistic?” Billie inquired, looking curious as to why he looked all flushed. “Because it kind of is. I’m not saying indie rock isn’t guilty of that either. Some of Father John Misty’s lyrics can be misogynistic too but I still listen to him. I’m not saying you shouldn’t listen to rap but I’m just pointing out it can be pretty misogynistic if you think about it.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Tom said as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I just meant that you shouldn’t say stuff like that in front of people who might overhear us.”

Billie crossed her arms and gave Tom a bored look.

“Don’t be a child, Holland,” Billie told him bluntly. “If you can’t hear me say “pussy” and “ass-eating” then how come you can hear Drake and Lil’ Wayne say it? They’re not as pretty as me either.”

“I’m not going to answer that question,” Tom said, still as red as a tomato. “I’m pretty sure no matter how I answer it, I’m going to put my foot in my mouth.”

Billie smirked.

“Smart move,” Billie remarked and Tom just shook his head at her before a smile broke across his face. It was clear that Billie was very stubborn and opinionated but he liked that. She was different than most girls who you could tell only pretended to know what they were talking about. Billie actually seemed to know what she was talking about and for some reason that made Tom even more attracted to her.

Fuck, he was in trouble.

* * *

 

“So how did dinner with that director go last night?” Tom asked Billie as they strolled down the narrow aisles of the record and coffee shop. It was a small and cramped shop but Tom was immediately enthralled by the sheer amount of vinyl records within the store. Not to mention how it was also a coffee shop which was nice considering how cold it was outside. A warm cup of coffee was exactly what he needed and also because he hadn’t slept much last night. The reason being was that he had been eagerly anticipating spending time with Billie today.

“It went really well, actually,” Billie said distractedly as she read the back of the _Give the People What They Want_ vinyl record by The Kinks. “We read some lines together and I think I might have the part. She said she’d let me know by the end of the week. We get along pretty well too which I kind of already knew. We facetimed a lot before we met...bonded over Mindy Kaling of all things. Apparently she guest starred on _The Mindy_ _Project_ too.”

“That’s really good, Billie,” Tom said as he gazed across the store for a moment, noticing that it just wasn’t vinyl records they carried.

CDs, films, cassettes, and other items seemed to be in abundance. Tom also took notice of the Bob Dylan and Lana Del Rey posters on the wall. He then turned his attention back to Billie who was taking a sip of her ice coffee. Tom didn’t understand how she could drink ice coffee in this weather. It was fucking freezing and she was from Texas so she really shouldn’t be drinking ice coffee. Tom would never understand her.

“What’s it called by the way? The film, I mean?” Tom inquired and Billie took Florence + The Machine’s latest record _How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful_ out from a rack and placed it under her arm.

“Lady Bird,” Billie told him which still told Tom basically nothing. “It’s about this teenage girl in the early 2000s who goes to this Catholic school. Basically it’s just her navigating her last year of high school before going off to college.”

“So, like, a coming-of-age story then?” Tom asked, seeming very interested in the film. Billie wrinkled her nose before shaking her head.

“I’d like to think of it as more of a human story. It’s not just relatable to a teenage girl but to every age group. Man or woman too,” Billie said, expressing her own opinion about the script she had read probably about seven times already. “I don’t know. That’s just how I feel, I guess.”

“No, no. I think it sounds amazing,” Tom told her as he smiled at her. “I’d really like to see it when it comes out.”

“I haven’t even gotten the part yet,” Billie told him and Tom honestly wondered how she could be cocky about everything other than her acting. She was usually so arrogant about her looks, to the point where Tom thought she might’ve been a little bit vain, and she was also arrogant about her knowledge of books, fashion, and music. However, she seemed almost insecure about her acting. He supposed it was that way for most artists. Himself included.

“You’ll get it,” Tom said, sounding very sure of himself. It was something that made Billie smile. “If you ever want to know anything about Catholic school then you can always ask me. I’m not sure if it’s different here than it is back home but I could give you a few tips.”

“You went to Catholic school?” Billie asked in surprise and Tom nodded.

“Yes, I did. For a while, actually,” Tom told her but Billie still looked curious.

“So you’re Catholic?” Billie questioned and Tom gave her an amused smile.

“My grandmother’s Irish,” Tom told her as if that were supposed to answer her question. Billie nodded and Tom gave her a curious look. “What about you?”

“ _What_ about me,” Billie said, becoming distracted once more as she started scanning a section of the vinyl records labeled ‘The Wombats’.

“What religion are you?” Tom couldn’t help but ask. His eyes widened once he realized how personal of a question that was. Tom didn’t know why he kept asking her such personal questions. Things he’d never ask anyone else. He supposed it was because he was so desperate to get to know her. Tom didn’t know a lot about Billie so the urge to get to know the very mysterious actress was overwhelming.

“You don’t have to answer that. That was very intrusive. Sorry,” Tom told her but Billie just gave him an amused look, turning away from the section of records to face him.

“It’s fine,” Billie said before shrugging. “I don’t really know. Christian, I guess, although I don't go to church or anything like that and I don't pray so maybe I'm nothing. My dad’s side of the family was Southern Baptist but they’re...I guess you could say they’re kind of out there. My mom’s Lutheran though. Well, my grandfather is anyways.”

“We went to church when I was little but after my dad…” Billie trailed off as she tried to find the right words to explain what she was trying to say. She never liked saying that her dad left. It was the same thing as saying she was abandoned by her dad which always made people pity her. Billie didn’t hate anything more than she hated being pitied.

“After my parents got divorced we stopped going. We were really busy, I guess,” Billie finally said as Tom watched her curiously. “I guess I have a basic belief in Christianity, like God, heaven, and hell, but it doesn’t really go beyond that.”

“No, I get it. I think I had more than a fair share of mass from Catholic school anyways,” Tom said even though he was processing everything Billie told him. It was probably the most Billie ever told him about her dad. She never talked about him other than that time Tom asked her about him. He knew better than to ask her about her father. She got really upset the last time he mentioned her father.

“So is there anything you’re working on at the moment?” Billie asked Tom as she changed the subject. It was kind of a deep and personal subject, after all, so Billie thought it would be best not to go too far. Tom shrugged.

“Not really. I’ve just started the training process for the Spider-Man film,” Tom told her and Billie nodded, a small smirk on her face.

“I noticed that, Holland. It was actually the first thing I probably noticed about you when I saw you the other day,” Billie said, referring to Tom’s added muscles which hadn’t been present during the filming of _Civil War_. Especially his arms. His arms were actually very nice looking now that she thought about it.

It turned out that Tom wasn’t as scrawny looking as he used to be.

Tom blushed.

He’d never understand her.

She was so obviously flirting with him. The look she was giving him made that obvious. It wasn’t the first time she flirted with him either. She had done it on the set of _Civil War_ numerous times and not to mention when they texted each other during their months apart. Billie wasn’t the only one either. Tom was guilty of flirting back although he didn’t think he was very smooth which seemed to amuse Billie nonetheless.

Tom knew that there was a lot of chemistry between the two of them too. Chemistry that Tom didn’t think he ever had with anyone else. Not even his exes. Tom had a couple relationships in the past. The most serious one ending right before he got the part of Spider-Man. He had been pretty down since the break-up but getting the part in _Civil War_ definitely lifted his spirits up and gave him something else to focus on. Not to mention a certain blonde had taken his mind off his ex.

Tom was just very confused about the whole thing.

He felt as though they were on the brink of something with all their flirting and chemistry. Tom even felt as though he could say that he formed something of a crush on his co-star. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her during their time apart and he always grew excited whenever she texted him.

Tom thought it might’ve been his newfound fame going to his head.

 _Of course_ he had a crush on Billie Aufderheide. He wouldn’t be the first guy but Tom just so happened to be one of the few guys who happened to actually know her and spend time around her. However, maybe it was a little shallow of him to crush on his co-star who also turned out to be a model.

Like, he prioritized looks over everything else.

His father warned him about not letting fame go to his head which included chasing after beautiful American actresses/models. His dad said that Hollywood starlets might’ve been beautiful and glamorous but a girl with a good head upon her shoulders was the kind of girl he needed. Someone more like his ex.

While his ex and Billie might’ve both been blondes, that’s where their similarities ended. His ex had always been kind, reserved, and even a bit shy at times. She had been very supportive of him and his acting career but then he started spending so much time away after graduation while taking on a couple indie projects. The relationship started to fall apart soon after that. Maybe it was a good thing since he was sure they never would’ve survived him going off to film huge Hollywood blockbusters. It was better that it ended before he stopped having time for a girlfriend.

Billie was the opposite of his ex though as nice and warm as his ex was.

Billie was cynical, sarcastic, blunt, and even a bit crude with her words. Warm was also the last word he would use to describe Billie. While she could also be quite reserved, it wasn’t because of shyness. Billie was probably the opposite of shy. Tom didn’t think he had ever met a girl who was so sure of herself and even maybe a bit arrogant at times. However, Billie was also very intelligent and she acted wise beyond her years. Tom often forgot she was, in fact, two years younger than him. She acted like she was a decade older than him.

Tom even thought his dad was wrong about Hollywood starlets.

Well, at least ones like Billie anyways because Billie didn’t fit the mold of those other actresses his father warned him about. Tom was sure his dad would see that if he ever got the chance to meet Billie in person. Of course, he told his parents all about Billie Aufderheide and how eccentric but amazing she was. His parents were pretty much familiar with Billie and more than he had been, having both been fans of _Mad Men_ for years. If anything his parents were very curious and anxious to meet the blonde that seemed to occupy Tom’s mind so much these days.

Tom just hoped they wouldn’t embarrass him by mentioning how often he talked about her or that he had suddenly become a huge fan of hers by watching her wide variety of work.

“Holland, you there?” Billie asked him, breaking out of his thoughts. “You look a little lost.”

Tom nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Tom told her and Billie nodded but she didn’t look exactly convinced. However, she didn’t say anything else on the matter.

This brought his problem back to attention.

Billie who flirted with him constantly and who he happened to have a lot of chemistry with. Billie who Tom was undeniably attracted to and Billie who he could never seem to stop thinking about. The only problem was that Tom didn’t think he could end this weird back and forth thing between them by asking her out. He couldn’t because Billie made it clear in the past that she didn’t date co-stars.

This confused Tom because of all the times she flirted with him and seemed like she might’ve been interested in him. Tom was even more confused because he thought she might have a boyfriend although he wasn’t completely sure about that.

Tom realized he was being ridiculous in that moment.

Why would Billie want anything to do with him? She could probably date anyone in Hollywood she wanted. Tom wasn’t anyone special anyways. No one really knew who he was and she was so incredibly famous. Everyone knew Billie.

Why would she waste her time with him?

Maybe Tom was just stupid for crushing on her and thinking there might be something there.

“What kind of training have you been doing anyways?” Billie asked him curiously, breaking Tom out of his thoughts once more. It was probably best he put those thoughts away anyways. “I know these movies are really physically demanding.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of different things recently,” Tom said as he answered her. “Lots of gymnastics, circuit training, and quite a bit of boxing. Cardio too, of course. What about you?”

“A lot of cardio but a lot of mixed martial arts too,” Billie told him honestly. “Since I got the part of Emma, I’ve been mostly doing Taekwondo but some boxing and Kali knife fighting mixed in as well. They’ve recently been having me do Krav Maga. I used to do gun training too when I did _The Winter Soldier_ but since Emma’s turned her life around and put an end to killing people, I kind of didn’t see a point in it anymore.”

“Wow...that sounds intense,” Tom told her and Billie nodded.

“I know. I feel like I should actually become an assassin at this point,” Billie said as she went back to looking at the records. Tom just shook his head.

“But gun training? That’s insane,” Tom remarked and Billie just shrugged.

“I had a basic understanding of guns. Please, Tom, I’m from Texas,” Billie told him much to Tom’s surprise. “It wasn’t the first time I held a gun. My grandfather on my dad’s side even got me a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun when I was eight. I wouldn’t say I was very interested in the whole gun thing but it prepared me for doing _The Winter Soldier_ so I can’t complain.”

“Right, Texas...of course,” Tom said as he started to wonder more and more about Texas.

He suddenly pictured an eight-year-old Billie with the BB gun she just told him about. He pictured a man in a cowboy hat, her grandfather, teaching her all the skills required in shooting a gun. Maybe Tom was being prejudiced in assuming Billie’s grandfather wore a cowboy hat just because he was from Texas. Although...Tom couldn’t say he understood the American obsession with guns. People didn’t have any in England and everyone was just fine. Then again, maybe things were different in America and different in Texas too.

“Anyways...my uncle used to take me hunting with him when I was younger but I just found the whole thing boring,” Billie said as she rolled her eyes as she casually told Tom tales from her childhood. Tom, as eager as ever, soaked it all in. "We were just sitting around in a forest for days in ninety degree weather waiting for some poor deer to come along.”

“Eventually my uncle stopped making me go with him so that was good. God, I hated hunting. It’s so barbaric and just a ton of waste,” Billie told Tom as he just watched her with curiosity as she went through a stack of records. “I’m not a vegetarian, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve come to a conclusion about hunting.”

“What conclusion is that?” Tom asked in amusement and Billie looked back at him.

“It’s a show of compensation for men,” Billie told him bluntly. “For women it’s a chance to prove they can do it better. I was the same way with baseball.”

Tom laughed.

“Well, I can’t say I know much about hunting but you may be onto something,” Tom told her honestly and Billie scoffed.

“Really? You’re not into hunting? I’m so shocked,” Billie said sarcastically but Tom wasn’t offended. He was never offended by the things she said. No one ever seemed offended by Billie even if she insulted them. It must’ve been part of the weird charming quality she had about herself. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Holland. You don’t look like you could find your way out of a park much less a forest. I bet you’ve never even set foot in a forest, city boy.”

This time it was Tom’s turn to scoff.

“I’ll have you know that I’ve gone hiking loads of times,” Tom told her, puffing his chest. Billie gave him an amused look but he could tell she wasn’t impressed.

“Well, I take it all back. You’ve sure shown me,” Billie said, her voice laced thick with sarcasm. Tom didn’t know if he was annoyed or amused by her. “Come on. It’s England. It can’t be dangerous.”

“It’s very dangerous, actually,” Tom said, still clearly trying to impress Billie or at least get her not to look bored. “Life threatening and thrilling at the same time. I guess you could say that I’m something of an adrenaline junkie.”

Tom actually managed to make her laugh that time.

Tom probably would’ve been annoyed that she was laughing at him had it not been for the fact that Billie so rarely laughed. He could probably count the amount of times she laughed on one hand. Most people would call her cold or aloof but Tom didn’t think that’s who she was. In fact, there were moments Billie actually seemed quite warm when she wasn’t being sarcastic and blunt. This seemed to be yet another time that she seemed more lively and happy to him.

Her eyes sparkled with a certain amount of mischief, her smile seemed to lit her whole face up, and her laughter seemed almost musical. Tom found that Billie was remarkably beautiful when she laughed.

Not that Billie wasn’t usually beautiful but it was just a different kind of beautiful than her face plastered on magazines covers. Carefully posed photographs that featured an unsmiling Billie who stared into the camera with an almost bored look on her face. Tom found that the sight of her laughing managed to make him smile even though she was laughing at his expense.

“Don’t tell someone, who’s seen the bad side of Texas’s wilderness, about how dangerous England is,” Billie told him but it was clear she was just teasing him. Tom could tell by the teasing smile on her face and the twinkle in her eyes. “What’s the worst thing you have over there? A squirrel?”

“We have deer too,” Tom mumbled and Billie just shook her head in amusement at him before he gave her a slightly suspicious look. “Wait...what do you mean about the bad side of Texas’s wilderness.”

Billie just shrugged as she turned down another aisle and started combing through yet another stack of records. Tom followed her and just watched as she now had two more records tucked underneath her arm. _Beauty Behind the Madness_ by the Weeknd and _Crown of Creation_ by Jefferson Airplane. While Tom didn’t recognize the second band, he definitely recognized the Weeknd.

Tom and Billie had a lot of differences. In fact, Tom didn’t think they had many similarities or interests in common other than acting. However, he knew that the Weeknd might just be a starting point for them because Tom listened to the Weeknd too. It was funny that out of all things, the Weeknd might’ve been what they had in common.

“There’s all sorts of dangerous things in Texas. Fire ants, scorpions, water moccasins, alligators...rattlers. Anything you can imagine,” Billie told him and Tom gave her a confused look.

“Rattler?” Tom asked and Billie nodded.

“Rattlesnake,” She elaborated. The blonde paused for a moment before looking up at him from the stack of records. “I got bit by one once, you know.”

Tom’s eyes widened.

“You were bitten by a rattlesnake?” Tom asked her in amazement. “Aren’t they venomous?”

“Very,” Billie confirmed.

“Then how are you alive? Or rather...what happened?” Tom asked her. He then started wondering if there would ever be a day where Billie wasn’t interesting. Tom kept learning new and surprising things about her each time they spoke. He wondered if the surprises would ever end. He hoped not.

“I was clearing some brush at my aunt and uncle’s ranch a couple years ago,” Billie began to tell him as if she were discussing something trivial like the weather or her schooling. “I wasn’t paying much attention, listening to my iPod, and felt a sharp, stinging pain in my arm. Then I looked down and there it was.”

“The snake?” Tom said in fascination.

“Yup. He didn’t let go for the longest time either,” Billie said as she recalled the time the snake bit her. “It’s not just their venom that’s bad, you know. Their fangs are like two little daggers digging into your flesh.”

“How did you not get your arm amputated?” Tom asked and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Someone’s watched _True Grit,_ ” Billie muttered before explaining the bite further. “There’s a thing called Antivenom so no arm amputations needed but that doesn’t mean your arm would still look pretty like before either. Don’t look up videos of people being operated on after getting a rattlesnake bite. It’s not for the faint hearted.”

“I didn’t get the venom anyways,” Billie said matter-of-factly. Tom raised his eyebrows, completely invested in her story.

“What do you mean?” He asked curiously. Tom obviously figured Billie survived the bite if she was here talking to him now so he wasn’t worried. He was merely just curious.

“There’s this thing called a dry bite which means that no venom was released. They don’t always release venom when they bite which I thankfully learned,” Billie explained to him and Tom supposed that made a lot of sense. “Basically it was my lucky day since he was shooting blanks.”

Tom laughed but he was still fascinated by Billie’s tale of the bite. He kind of got why Anthony Mackie called her John Wayne sometimes. She was sort of like a cowboy...or cowgirl, but she was also tough and nothing seemed to faze her. Tom was thoroughly amazed by her.

“So you didn’t have to get operated on or had to get the Antivenom?” Tom asked and Billie shook her head.

“Nope. I did get a nasty little scar from the whole incident courtesy of the evil snake which I had to rip off my arm and throw at a tree because he wouldn’t let go,” Billie told Tom as a disgusted look came over her face. “I don’t know if he survived but I really hope he didn’t. I fucking hate snakes.”

Tom snorted with more laughter at that which caused Billie to fix him with a glare.

“What the hell are you laughing at, Holland?” Billie asked him and Tom just shook his head, trying to get a hold of himself enough to speak.

“I just realized the irony of this situation,” Tom told her much to Billie’s confusion.

“What are you talking about?” Billie questioned and Tom seemed to have the nerve to smirk at her. He actually smirked at her! _What an asshole_ , Billie thought to herself.

“You’re the Viper Assassin and yet you got bitten by a snake,” Tom pointed out to her and Billie’s glare was unwavering. “Do you not see the irony in that?”

“Ha ha. Laugh it up,” Billie told him, not looking very amused by him. “It was a rattler by the way. It’s not like I was bit by a viper.”

“It’s still sort of funny,” Tom told her and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Not really,” Billie told him and Tom just gave her an amused smile.

“It’s okay, Billie. I don’t like spiders either just like you don’t like snakes,” Tom told her as if he were trying to make her feel better which annoyed Billie. This kid really knew how to get on her nerves. Billie hadn’t met anyone who pushed her buttons like this before. She just wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing yet.

“I don’t like snakes because I was bitten by one. What reason do you have to not like spiders?” Billie questioned and Tom shrugged.

“They’re creepy,” Tom told her and Billie fought the urge to roll her eyes at him again.

“You’re a dork,” Billie deadpanned as she went back to looking through the records. Tom just smiled at her before shaking his head in amusement. He watched the focused look on her face as she paused to look at every single record she came across.

“What are you looking for?” Tom asked her as he changed the subject from the snake bite. A part of him wanted to ask to see the rattlesnake bite but he felt like that might’ve been a little bit rude and intrusive. He was pretty sure Billie would tell him to fuck off. Well, he was half sure, at least. Billie could be unpredictable, after all.

“Nothing in particular,” Billie said distractedly without looking up from the records. “Something I don’t have, I guess.”

“Is there anything you would recommend to me?” Tom asked her curiously and Billie paused to look at him.

“Like what?” Billie questioned and Tom shrugged.

“You seem to have a wide variety of music in your music library,” Tom pointed out. “You just seem like the sort of person to ask.”

Billie stared at him for a moment with a unreadable look on her face. Tom was about to say something when she suddenly turned down another aisle. The English actor slowly followed her, not sure what the blonde had in mind. Although, he rarely ever knew what was going on in that mind of hers.

“You said you liked misogynistic rap, right?” Billie asked bluntly and Tom blushed before shaking his head.

“I never said that,” Tom told her, not knowing whether to be amused or offended by her accusation. “I said I liked Drake. Drake’s not really misogynistic like the others though.”

“No, he’s actually worse because he pretends to be a feminist by acting like one of the good guys therefore women should be grateful to him and want to sleep with him because he rarely call us bitches in songs,” Billie explained to Tom who supposed she might’ve had a point. Tom raised an eyebrow.

“So you _don’t_ like Drake then?” Tom asked and Billie just laughed.

“But that’s the most fucked up part, Tom,” Billie told him much to Tom’s bewilderment. He was no closer to understanding Billie’s mind although he doubted he ever would. “I’ll still listen to his music despite all that.”

Tom didn’t say anything as Billie finally approached the stack of records she was looking for. Tom didn’t really know how to respond to something like that anyways. This was yet another time where Billie made him forget that she was, in fact, seventeen...and that she was younger than him even though she never felt like she was younger than him. Tom actually felt like _he_ was a lot younger than _her_.

“Well, how about feminist rap?” Billie said as she immediately started going through the ‘L’ section of one of the record stacks. Tom just watched, mystified as to what she was going to do.

“Feminist rap?” Tom questioned and Billie nodded before smiling in satisfaction at what she found in the stack of records. The nineteen year old actor watched as Billie pulled out two vinyl records from the stack. He stared curiously at the woman on both covers of the vinyl records.

“Lizzo,” Billie told him which Tom assumed was the name of the rapper she was recommending him to listen to. “She’s not like Nicki Minaj or Iggy Azalea and she has just as much to say as the other ‘conscious’ rappers but she just doesn’t talk about all the pussy she gets like said conscious rappers. She’s also a really amazing singer.”

“Oh…” Tom said as he looked over the two records. _Lizzobangers_ and _Big Grrrl Small World._ A large part of Tom was very invested in the two albums Billie recommended to him. Maybe because he found her to be such a curious and fascinating person so he was also curious about the kind of music she listened to. She seemed to have a sophisticated taste in music and not to mention a large variety of different musicians she listened to.

“Don’t worry. I’ll buy it,” Billie said abruptly, mistaking Tom’s curious expression for one of hesitance. Tom looked up from the records with an alarmed look on his face.

“What?” Tom asked her before shaking his head. “You don’t have to do that. That’s not what I meant anyways.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Billie told him before giving him that smirk of hers that annoyed him at the same time it caused his heart to skip a beat. “I just want to buy you pretty things, Holland, because you have a pretty face. You can be Julia Roberts and I’ll be Richard Gere except that I don’t expect you to put out.”

Tom blushed, not understanding why Billie was so weird. She was the weirdest person he had ever met. Sometimes Tom wasn’t sure if she was being serious or not. That’s how weird she was.

“I don’t want you to spend your money on me,” Tom said, becoming very uncomfortable with Billie’s suggestion but the blonde just continued to smirk at him.

“Money’s no object. I’d probably even buy you a nice big house if you asked so you could wait for me at home and cook me dinner,” Billie told him suddenly with a serious look on her face. Tom just stared at her in bewilderment .“Holland, you’re so pretty that you could drain me of all my money and make me go broke yet I'd still want to keep you around.”

“Billie, I should probably tell you that I just got out of a relationship and I’m not ready to-” Tom started to say and Billie started laughing at him again. It was only then that he realized that she was messing with him. God, this girl was going to give him an headache.

Why did she flirt with him so much and why did it not seem to mean anything?

Was it an American thing or just a Billie thing?

“Relax. I’m just fucking with you, Holland,” Billie told him as she started walking down an aisle and Tom was forced to follow her. He was left flabbergasted by the blonde. Tom was really no closer to understanding her frame of mind. He probably never would. “I actually have a boyfriend...well, sort of. We’re not exclusive or anything. It’s kind of an on and off again sort of thing factored in with long distance.”

“You’re crazy,” Tom finally said as he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that she was actually taken. Well, sort of taken. Billie mentioned that she and said boyfriend weren’t exclusive which Tom didn’t really understand.

The whole exclusivity vs. non-exclusivity thing was entirely confusing to him but he supposed it was because he was English and she was American. Back home if you went out on a couple dates with someone then that was it. It was always assumed but this whole complicated American way of dating was confusing.

Maybe Tom should be happy she was taken because dating an American seemed complicated all on its own. Billie was a whole other level of complexity that Tom doubted that he would ever be ready for. He liked her and admitted that he was very attracted to her but he was also scared of her...if that made any sense at all.

“Thank you,” Billie told him, not at all offended by Tom’s accusation. “I’m paying for the vinyl, Tom. Not because I want you to put out but because I may or may not be fond of you.”

When Tom gave her a look, Billie was quick elaborate on what she meant. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, after all.

“Don’t worry. It’s not sexual. I mean it in a completely platonic way,” Billie paused in the aisle as she turned to look at him, biting her lip in response. Tom was surprised by the obvious nervous gesture because he didn’t think he had ever seen Billie nervous before. “Look, I know I’m not an easy person to be around. I’m an asshole sometimes, and yes women can be assholes too, but you’ve been nice despite my unpleasant personality.”

“People my own age never really like me and I won’t lie. I never understand them either,” Billie told him honestly and Tom just watched her silently. “It’s just...thank you for putting up with me.”

Tom realized then that despite Billie’s fame, looks, and success that maybe celebrities didn’t have it all. It never occurred to him before then that maybe Billie’s childhood had been quite lonely. While Tom had also started acting at a young age, he had only started acting on the stage while Billie reached mainstream success with _Mad Men_. The role of Sally Draper is what made her famous and all the other roles she had gotten in the years since made her even more so.

Tom had also gone to school with other children while he was doing _Billy Elliot_ but he distinctly remembered Billie mentioning being part of an independent study program. Homeschooling in other words. That probably also meant that she was isolated from other kids while at the same time being surrounded by loads of adults. She most likely didn’t interact with many people her own age. Tom might’ve even felt sympathy for the American actress as he watched the unsure and vulnerable look on her face.

A part of him wanted to hug her and tell her that it was alright but he was almost positive that she wouldn’t exactly appreciate that gesture. The only time Billie hugged him was when they went their separate ways after finishing filming _Civil War_. Billie said something about it being a gesture of southern politeness but Tom didn’t really know what that meant. Tom really needed to look up southern etiquette. Maybe it would help him understand Billie a bit more...maybe.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Tom told her sincerely, his gaze softening. “Billie, I really like you as a friend. I don’t see it as putting up with you.”

Tom swallowed hard before continuing in his assertion that he truly and really did like Billie. He felt nervous all of a sudden because how could he not? The way Billie’s piercing gaze focused solely on him as she gave him her full attention. It would make anyone nervous.

“You’re my first friend in Hollywood or...well, you know what I mean,” Tom said as he struggled to express how much he valued Billie’s friendship. “I’m really new to all this and you’ve been very kind with your advice. You’ve had a major part in guiding me through all this. I’ll always appreciate how nice and thoughtful you’ve been.”

“No one’s called me nice and thoughtful before,” Billie told him, not knowing what else to say and Tom just smiled softly at her.

“Well, you are,” Tom told her before he thought of something. “If you insist on getting me those records then maybe I should return the favor.”

“Return the favor for what?” Billie questioned as she raised an eyebrow. Tom didn’t say anything at first he just headed towards a different section of the store. She was forced to follow him as he started rifling through records much like she had done when searching for the perfect records for him.

“For showing me the ropes of Hollywood,” Tom told her as Billie scoffed.

“Don’t thank me yet, Holland. In a couple years, you’ll wish you stayed in England and never left rather than being stuck in some party with a bunch ass kissing producers and agents,” Billie told him but Tom just ignored her as she continued to put down the “Hollywood” lifestyle. “Not to mention all the men, or women in your case, that’ll suck you dry of your money and everything you have.”

“That’s a terrible thing to say,” Tom told her and Billie just shrugged.

“People will use you for your money. It’s true,” Billie told him as Tom half-listened to her. “My ex dumped outside a music venue where the 1975 were performing but only after we watched them perform.”

Tom stopped abruptly in his search for the record as he looked up at the blonde in shock.

“Someone broke up with you?” Tom asked, his eyes wide with surprise and disbelief. He couldn’t believe that someone would actually break up with Billie. “How is that even possible?”

Who in their right mind would ever do that?

As odd as she was, Billie was most definitely the most interesting person he had ever met. She was also incredibly intelligent and opinionated. Billie was the kind of girl you could have long, intellectual conversations with before she made you feel like a complete idiot that didn’t know anything about the world. Billie’s sense of humor was very strange but Tom thought she was very funny. Her sense of humor was basically insulting you but for some reason it made you laugh.

Not to mention the fact that Billie was devastatingly beautiful(a fucking model!) and a talented actress to boot. Some would call her the face of a new generation of actors that would become household names. Well, Billie kind of already was a household name but Tom was sure she would make an even bigger name for herself in the coming years.

All of this made Tom wonder why anyone would break up with Billie and especially after using her for a concert ticket.

Like, who would-or-why-but-

Tom really didn’t know.

He wasn’t saying that he wanted to date her or anything, he didn’t think he would have a chance anyways, since Billie made it clear she wasn’t interested and Tom was just getting out of a relationship himself. However, Tom knew that anyone that dumped Billie had to be clinically insane. She wasn’t just _any_ girl.

She was Billie.

Shit...Tom was really in for it now.

This newfound crush on Billie could prove to be dangerous if he kept it up. Especially since it was obvious it would be an unrequited crush.

Tom blushed when he saw the amused look on Billie’s face.

“Sorry, I just meant that you seem very nice and lovely,” Tom told her and Billie nodded even though she didn’t believe him. She was anything but nice and lovely. Her ex told her that amongst other things. Of course, the break-up wasn’t as simple as Tom probably thought. Nothing ever was that simple.

Tom turned back to look through the vinyl records when Billie didn’t say anything. He smiled in satisfaction when he finally found the one he was looking for. Or, at least, the two he was looking for.

Billie raised her eyebrows as he held out two Prince vinyl records towards her.

 _Purple Rain_ and _Parade._

Billie had to admit that she hadn’t really listened to Prince before. Not because she thought she wouldn’t like him but because it just wasn’t the music she had grown up with. Her dad, before he left, always listened to country music and her mom usually just liked anything that was on the radio which was mostly bad pop music of the 2000s. Her grandfather was the one with the cool taste in music. He introduced her to music artists like the Eagles, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, and even some German rock bands from back in the day. Billie honestly didn’t know how her mother was related to someone as cool as him.

“My mum loves him and so I kind of grew up on his music,” Tom told her and Billie hesitantly took the records from him. “He’s brilliant.”

“I’ve heard as much but I’ve never really listened to him,” Billie told Tom honestly as she looked over the two records. “I’ve kind of had to develop my own music library since my mom’s idea of good music is Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake while my dad’s was Brad Paisley and Tim McGraw.”

“What’s wrong with Justin Timberlake?” Tom asked her seriously and Billie just smiled in amusement.

“Nothing,” Billie told him before Tom surprised her by subsequently taking the records away from her in the next moment. Billie raised her eyebrows. He swallowed hard before giving her a brief explanation.

“If you’re buying me something then I’ll buy you something,” Tom told her and Billie just gave him a curious look. “It’s only fair.”

This was weird.

Usually Billie was the one to pay for everything. While her ex, Teddy, had been older and felt more inclined to pay for things, her current on again off again boyfriend, Tyler, didn’t feel so inclined. She supposed he felt like since she was the one with all the money that she should pay for everything. Billie didn’t really mind but it would be nice if he offered to pay every once in a while.

She wasn’t even on a date with Tom yet he was offering to pay for half the things. That probably said a lot about the men she dated if she was suddenly becoming charmed by a British guy.

It’s not that Billie hated the British like her weird grandpa on her dad’s side did for some reason. Billie just liked to be the anti-teenage girl. A girl who rolled her eyes and scoffed at One Direction and Taylor Swift. A girl who looked at parties as a nuisance and made a face of disgust at kids her own age. And especially a girl who didn’t fawn all over a cute guy with a British accent. Billie was adamant about not being a cliché.

“Then can I have the Lizzo records back so I can pay for them?” Billie asked, surprising Tom by actually agreeing with him and not arguing. Hey, Billie wasn’t going to turn him down if he wanted to pay.

Tom nodded furiously.

“Of course,” Tom said as he promptly returned the records to her. Billie took them from him with a small smile on her face.

She didn’t say anything as she then headed for the front counter to pay for the records and Tom didn’t say anything either as he followed. He just wore a similar smile on his face.

They waited quietly in line to pay without saying anything else but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was actually very peaceful which took Tom by surprise. Usually he felt the need to fill silences with conversation but he didn’t feel any such need this time. Tom actually felt at ease for the first time since the plane he boarded back at Heathrow touched down at JFK.

A small part of him also wondered whether he should mention to Billie that he didn’t own a record player.

He turned to look at her, analyzing her appearance. The Florence + The Machine, Jefferson Airplane, The Weeknd, and Lizzo records in her arms, coffee still in her hand, as she looked straight ahead behind the counter. It became clear to Tom that she was observing all the posters on the wall behind the counter. He watched the way her eyes swept over a Lana Del Rey poster and realized that she was a fan of Lana Del Rey too. Of course, she was a fan of Lana Del Rey. Billie was too cool not to be a fan of her.

Tom then decided not to tell Billie he didn’t own a record player or any records other than the ones she was buying for him. He was afraid of making her think he was uncool or too young.

Tom could’ve scoffed in that moment.

It was just occurring to him that he was afraid of seeming uncool and young to a girl who was two years younger than him. It seemed as though he had forgotten her age yet again.

No, he would just keep this information to himself. He’d take the records back to London when the time came and he wouldn’t waste a moment before he listened to them. There was just one thing he would have to do before he listened to said records.

Tom had to buy a record player.

 


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie and Tom join Sebastian for dinner. Sebastian has an interesting proposal and confession in store for Billie which sends her life on a new and different path. Billie and Tom's newfound friendship draws interest from the public.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: So here's another super long chapter. Sorry for how long it is. I'm not sure when I'll update again. Hopefully soon. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. This was a really fun chapter for me write and I hope you guys love it.

 

* * *

  
The restaurant they went to wasn’t upscale like Tom thought(and feared) it would be. It was still very nice and modern looking, no doubt, but it just wasn’t what he expected from Billie. For some reason Tom pictured Billie eating pastel colored pastries in a tea room that looked like it was from Alice in Wonderland. Probably because Billie seemed to embody that old Hollywood glamor. She kind of looked like Grace Kelly a little bit. Not exactly like Grace Kelly but close enough for people to call her a young Grace Kelly. Although Tom doubted that Grace Kelly was anything like Billie Aufderheide.

Tom didn’t say anything except for just following Billie since she seemed to know her way around the place. It was a pho place by the looks of it and Tom was glad it wasn’t anything too extravagant. He still hadn't gotten used to the Hollywood extravagance. Having lunch with Robert Downey Jr. taught him that.

Everything smelled good too which seemed to remind Tom that he was hungry. He hadn’t eaten since lunch and now it was nearly seven. He and Billie seemed to have lost track of time as they spent the afternoon walking around and just talking about life in general.

He learned that Billie had two best friends. One she had known ever since birth in Texas and another one, a former neighbor, in Los Angeles she had met when she was living there while filming _Mad Men_ and while her mother was also attending university there. Matty and Nellie. Tom told her about his own friends too. Especially Harrison who was an actor like him. He made Billie laugh when he told her that his younger brothers, Sam and Harry, had a crush on her ever since watching _Zombieland_.

All in all, it had been a very good afternoon after the record store. Tom was just happy that Billie and him were getting along so well.

However, Tom’s thoughts were soon disrupted as the hostess of the restaurant led Billie and him to a more private area in the back where Sebastian Stan was waiting for them. Tom took notice of the wide smile that formed on her face as soon as she saw Sebastian. An equally wide smile broke across Sebastian’s face too.   
  
Billie immediately found herself pulled into Sebastian’s arms as he hugged her. Billie giggled. She actually _giggled_. Tom, even though he knew it was stupid, was kind of jealous because Billie didn’t greet him like that nor did she look that happy to see him the other day.

“How are you? It’s been forever,” Sebastian said to her as Billie pulled away to look up at him. 

“I know but I’ve been good. Pretty busy, actually,” Billie told him.  
  
It was true.  
  
Billie hadn’t seen Sebastian since she finished filming her scenes in _Civil War_. That had been almost six months ago. Sure, she, Sebastian, Anthony, and Chris kept up with each other during their time apart and while doing other things but that was only via text message. Although, Billie had facetimed with Sebastian numerous times so it’s not like they had been completely disconnected. 

“That’s good. I’m glad,” Sebastian said as he gave her a kind smile. Billie always thought he had a nice smile which she and Anthony always teased him about. She just wished he’d smile more. Not that she was one to judge. Billie rarely smiled herself. She guessed she wasn’t a smiley person.

Sebastian then looked past Billie to Tom who was awkwardly standing behind her.

He wasn’t surprised to see the British actor there. Billie had informed Sebastian that Tom would be joining them for dinner since he was in town too. She complained to him a while ago about Tom getting her mixed up in some high school thing which Billie didn’t really want to go to. Sebastian didn’t know why she was complaining. She only had to go to high school for three days. Sebastian had to go for four years.

“Hey, Tom,” Sebastian said, nodding once, as the smile faded from his face and he become slightly more awkward. Billie knew that he wasn’t being unfriendly. Sebastian was just awkward around people he didn’t know very well. A lot like her, actually.

“Oh, hi, Sebastian,” Tom said as he offered him a smile. Sebastian didn’t really know Tom that well. He probably only talked to him a handful of times when they were filming _Civil War_. 

“Maybe we should sit down then,” Billie told Tom and Sebastian. Anything to break up this weird awkwardness between them. Tom and Sebastian looked at the blonde, both nodding furiously as they followed her suggestion and took a seat at the table. 

“You’re out awfully late for a school night,” Sebastian remarked teasingly as Billie looked at the menu. Billie rolled her eyes at him.

“It’s seven o’clock, genius, and I don’t go to school. This is just some weird method actor shit Kevin came up with,” Billie told him as Tom curiously watched Billie and Sebastian interact with each other. 

“I can’t believe Marvel actually made you two go to school,” Sebastian said, laughing as he shook his head. “Mackie really got a kick out of it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he ate it all up,” Billie grumbled. “The same guy who threw up on all the cameras when he was flying around in his harness _trying_ to be the Falcon.”

“I almost forgot about that,” Sebastian said and Billie just shook her head.

“I’ll never forget that day for as long as I live. The look on Robert Redford’s face was priceless.”

Tom realized the pair had a lot of inside jokes between them.

It made sense since Billie and Sebastian has known each other for around three years. Not to mention their characters were close on-screen so they probably spent a lot of time together on set. It was fascinating to watch but at the same time Tom couldn’t help but feel left out. He didn’t really know any of the other cast members that well. 

Just Billie and Robert mostly.

Those two weren’t a bad pair to know but he didn’t know a lot of the others that well.

“So uh...Tom, how are things going for you?” Sebastian asked being both awkward and polite. Billie gave the two an amused smile as Tom started to engage in the conversation. 

“Oh, it’s going very well. Very brilliantly, actually,” Tom started to say excitedly, relieved that Billie and Sebastian hadn’t forgotten about him in the midst of their reunion. “I just got back from filming a movie in Brazil not too long ago so that was nice. The jungles were pretty scary there and my co-star, Charlie Hunnam, got this spider inside his ear while we were there and it basically starting gnawing on his ear drum. It was pretty gross now that I think of it. He had to go to the hospital there.”

“I went to the hospital too but it wasn’t because I got a flesh eating spider in my ear,” Tom said as Billie and Sebastian just stared at him as he rambled on. “I was doing a flip on the jungle floor and then I fell on my face. Short story short, I broke my nose. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened either.”

There was just silence as Tom finished his story. The two American actors staring at him as if he were something they hadn’t quite seen before. Tom blushed when he realized he did that thing where he rambled on for five minutes when he was left feeling nervous. 

 _Great...I’ve made myself look like a fool in front of Sebastian Stan_ , Tom thought to himself.

Sebastian slowly started to remember that Billie and Tom were the same age...more or less. He and the other cast members rarely remembered that Billie was, in fact, still a kid. She acted very mature and she was wise beyond her years. People thought it was a child actor thing but Sebastian knew it was actually an only child thing. He knew because he was the same way when he was Billie’s age. 

However, it was weird to see Tom who actually acted his age compared to Billie who acted much older. Seeing Tom sitting there next to her reminded Sebastian of just how young she really was. It sure made him feel really old sitting there with a couple of teenagers.  
  
God, where did all the time go?  
  
Why was he the old guy now?

“God, Holland, do you have a pair of gills on you?” Billie questioned sarcastically. “Because you just sucked out all the air in the room. You talk too much.”

“Sorry,” Tom apologized and Billie just rolled her eyes.

“Stop apologizing. You don’t need to apologize for every little thing, you know,” Billie told him cynically. Tom almost went to say sorry again but Billie’s unamused look stopped him. He didn’t know why but she was just as scary as she was beautiful to him. 

“Billie, be nice,” Sebastian told her as he looked between the two teenagers in amusement. Billie finally turned away from Tom and looked at the older man. 

“I am nice,” Billie said, practically batting her eyelashes at him. Sebastian resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her. She really was too much sometimes. “How’s it going with you anyways? I saw _The Martian_ not too long ago.”

“Did you?” Sebastian asked as he gave her an amused look, wondering what Billie was going to say _this_ time. Billie nodded.

“Yeah, I thought it was unrealistic. Kate Mara would never have your astronaut babies,” Billie told him as if this were a fact. Tom looked between Sebastian and Billie, wondering if this would be an incident of Sebastian getting up from the table and just leaving them there because Billie had offended him so much. However, Sebastian did no such thing as he held Billie’s gaze before making a retort of his own. 

“You want to know what I thought when I saw _The Equalizer_?” Sebastian said and Billie shrugged, still not looking away from him.

“Not really,” Billie deadpanned but Sebastian went on anyways.

“I thought Denzel should’ve let those Russian mobsters have you,” Sebastian told her with a serious expression on his face while Billie just stared at him. “Save yourself the trouble, Denzel. She’s a real pain in the ass.”

“Ha ha. Very funny,” Billie said sarcastically before changing the subject like they hadn’t just been insulting each other. “So how have you been, _really_?”

Sebastian shrugged and Tom just felt even more confused than ever by these two. He understood Billie seemed to have a habit of insulting people without a care in the world but he guessed Sebastian was the same way. Tom was still no closer to understanding Billie and especially understanding how she got away with the things she did.

“I’ve just been doing this and that. Nothing much. Just taking time to relax and sleep. I’ve spending time with my mom too which has been nice,” Sebastian told her honestly and Billie nodded. “Although, I’ve heard _you’ve_ been working nonstop. How many movies do you have coming out next year anyways? Five? Maybe you should consider taking a break too.”

“It’s four, actually, but Tom and I aren’t old like you, Seb. We won’t break a hip on a film set like you and Evans would,” Billie told him, deflecting his remark about working too much. Tom didn’t seem to notice her deflection as he laughed nervously but that was only because he didn’t know her like Sebastian did. Sebastian knew better than anyone else that Billie’s habit of deflecting questions with sarcasm was her way of saying that she didn’t want to talk about it. 

The older actor had to admit that he worried about Billie constantly.  
  
He didn’t know if caring for her like this came from all the time they spent on _The Winter Soldier_ or if it was something else. Not that it was creepy or anything. Sebastian definitely wasn’t some kind of sick pervert but he supposed he felt a fatherly sort of affection for the teenage girl. Maybe it was because she reminded him so much of himself. Billie, over the course of their odd friendship, told him about her father and how he just packed up his things one day and left for good. Fifteen-year-old Billie had looked over at him with wide, innocent eyes and questioned how anyone could just leave their kid like that without so much as a care in the world.

Sebastian couldn’t give her an answer. 

Not because he didn’t know but because his father had also left at a young age. Sebastian remembered feeling that confused and lost in his adolescence as well, never really knowing why his dad had left. It seemed like Billie had suffered, and was still suffering, from that same dilemma. 

Sebastian wished he could tell her the exact reason her father left but it wasn’t that simple. He still didn’t know why his own father had left and he was a grown man. Sebastian just knew, now as an adult, that it wasn’t his fault. He tried to tell Billie that too but he could tell she still had some growing up to do in that department. She would have to realize that on her own just like he did. 

“Yes, Chris and I are just a couple of old geezers, Billie. Sorry if we embarrass you,” Sebastian told her and Billie smirked at him.

“That’s okay, Seb. I happen to have a fascination with old people,” Billie said as she pointedly looked at him. Sebastian laughed as Tom was left feeling a bit like a third wheel. That was okay though. He understood that Billie was very close to Sebastian and probably hadn’t seen him in a while.

“You’re going to get old someday too, you know,” Sebastian told her and Billie just gave him a smug look as she shook her head.

“Old people can go fuck themselves. I’m going to live forever,” Billie said in an almost jovial tone which only seemed to make Sebastian laugh as Tom was left looking around the restaurant they were at, wondering if they were receiving any harsh looks from people at Billie’s crude language. He wasn’t so innocent himself but his mother instilled a certain amount of manners in him which included not blatantly swearing as loud as Billie was in a nice restaurant.   
  
Yes, Tom definitely didn’t think he would tire of Billie any time soon...maybe even ever. 

“Nice, Billie. Very classy,” Sebastian told her sarcastically and Billie just shrugged, not caring how she looked. She knew she could be a little Beverly Hillbilly at times but it usually charmed those rich snobs in Hollywood so Billie didn’t really care to pretend that she was one of them anyways. 

The waiter finally came to their table to take their order.  
  
Billie went with the seafood pho while Tom and Sebastian went a bit more extravagant with their choices but one was from London and the other was from New York, after all. Deep down Billie was still just a small town Texan girl at heart, growing up with traditional southern dishes, BBQ, Tex-Mex, some traditional German meals thrown in there, and never venturing very far outside those choices.

Billie still hadn’t had sushi or Indian food, much too frightened of trying new things. It was probably one of the few things she had in common with her mom who was also afraid of trying new things. Pho was still new to her. She and her mother reluctantly tried it after much goading from Sebastian whose jaw dropped in horror when they told him they hadn’t had it. Lindale never had many restaurants outside a diner or a BBQ place. They lived in LA for a time but they never ate out much. Billie’s grandfather was quite a cook and he always had dinner ready for her mom when she got home from school and work while Billie occasionally helped. 

Although Billie had to admit that she was glad Sebastian introduced her mom and her to pho. It was a small step outside her comfort zone but Billie felt as though she was willing to try more new things but maybe another time. For now she would just stick with the seafood pho. 

“How are you guys doing with that school thing anyways? Putting all humor aside of course because the idea of Billie in a high school is hilarious,” Sebastian told them after the waiter had taken their orders and left. Sebastian smirked at Billie who only rolled her eyes in response. 

“The school’s been very nice, actually,” Tom told Sebastian before Billie could make a sarcastic remark. “It’s been interesting too. Much different than the school I went to back home.”

“I thought it would be a little more _Friday Night Lights_ ,” Billie added and Sebastian had to fight the urge to roll his eyes at the both of them. What weird fucking kids these were. They didn’t even know what a high school was like. In a way Sebastian felt bad for them although he doubted Billie felt any feelings of remorse over missing out on high school. “At least I didn’t make any new friends. That's always a plus." 

“Danielle and you seemed to have gotten along well,” Tom pointed out to Billie and she gave him a look of disdain, preferring that people think that she was an anti-social bitch rather than someone friendly. 

“Shut up, Holland,” Billie told him but Tom just gave her an amused look.

“I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with Billie all by yourself, Tom. I know she’s a lot to handle,” Sebastian said jokingly and Billie didn’t really look amused by Sebastian’s remark. Tom laughed.

“Billie’s not so bad,” Tom said before turning to look at the blonde. “We’ve had fun here in New York, haven’t we? We went to that record store and then the comic book shop which was fun. People obviously knew who you were but they still had no clue about me.”

“Nerds love me,” Billie said as she shrugged before giving Tom a teasing look. “Don’t worry, Tom. Soon all those horny teenage girls will forget all about Andrew Garfield and you’ll become the center of their wet dreams instead. Then you’ll really wish they didn’t know who you were.”

Tom blushed while Sebastian just rolled his eyes, already more than used to Billie’s behavior. It was obvious to Sebastian that Billie was only trying to test Tom to see how far she could push him. She did the same thing with everyone. Billie even tried seeing how far she could push Robert but she was still testing the famous actor as it would seem. Nothing really fazed Robert, after all.

“Sebastian knows,” Billie said as she looked at the older actor. “Remember the girl who flashed you and Chris outside that Comic-Con? It’s like they think you guys are Jim Morrison but for nerds.” 

“Billie, I thought you said you didn’t see anything,” Sebastian said in surprise and Billie shrugged. 

“You and Chris looked scared so I didn’t want to add any more fuel to the fire,” Billie said before smirking and leaning forward in her seat. “I don’t know what the problem is, Sebastian. She seemed like a nice girl. Maybe you should’ve accepted her proposal and married her. Of course, she probably would’ve murdered you in your sleep by now and kept your head in her freezer but it’s the thought that counts.”

“You’re so disgusting. I honestly don’t know how you’re able to get as many jobs as you do,” Sebastian told her but it was clear he was just kidding. “I feel bad for Tom who has to put up with your shit now.”

“I feel bad for Matt Damon who probably had to put up with _your_ shit,” Billie retorted as Tom watched her and Sebastian go back and forth like some kind of tennis match. “Poor bastard. He really had no idea what he was getting himself into.”

“You’re real cute, Aufderheide,” Sebastian said as he shook his head but smiled nonetheless. Something else seemed to come to Sebastian’s mind in that instant and the smile soon faded from his face. Tom watched the older actor curiously as a nervous expression suddenly came over Sebastian’s face and Tom even dared to think that Sebastian looked a little pink in the face as well.

“So uh...speaking of Auderheides. Um...did your mom come with you to New York?” Sebastian finally asked Billie. It was something that had been bothering him ever since Billie and Tom walked inside the restaurant and there was no sign of a cute, short blonde with big blue eyes that seemed to captivate you the second she walked into a room. Sebastian had waited to see if Sarah would come in after them but she never did. 

Billie gave Sebastian a suspicious look while Tom just looked confused.

“Mom? No, she’s back in New Braunfels,” Billie told him and it was odd because she felt like he was always asking about her mom these days. Even when they were just speaking on the phone, he’d ask how her mom was doing. Billie didn’t just think it was politeness either. “She just opened the clinic, remember?”

“Right, right,” Sebastian said, nodding his head but still looking nervous. “How’s that going for her?”

“Really good. She has a lot of new clients so she’s been keeping pretty busy lately,” Billie told him and Sebastian swallowed hard.

“That’s probably why she hasn’t been responding to my texts,” Sebastian said quietly and Billie just gave him an odd look. Tom was still no closer in understanding Sebastian’s sudden concern with Billie’s mum. Was that a normal thing for co-stars to do? Text their co-stars mums?

“Right…” Billie said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. “Well, she has been busy with work which is why Opa’s with me. He’s waiting for me back at the hotel. He barely let me go with Tom alone.”

“Opa?” Tom asked in confusion, raising his eyebrows.

“My grandfather,” Billie explained quickly before considering something thoughtfully. “He doesn’t like you by the way.”

“What did I do?” Tom questioned, his eyes widening in surprise. Sebastian allowed himself to be amused despite his curiosity towards all things Sarah Aufderheide.

“He said you were flirting with me and that I shouldn’t trust you,” Billie said as she rolled her eyes. “Apparently he thinks it’s the 1950s and I shouldn’t be alone with a boy.”

“ _Were_ you flirting with her?” Sebastian questioned and Tom just stared at him in bewilderment, his face turning red.

“No, of course not. We were just joking around and I-” He was then interrupted by Sebastian’s laughter.

“I’m just messing with you. No, I completely get how terrifying Billie’s grandfather is,” Sebastian reassured him much to Tom’s relief. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that man smile in my life.”

“No one made the rule that everyone has to smile in order to be happy in this universe,” Billie pointed out and Sebastian resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He used to wonder where Billie got her charming personality from only to realize a little too soon that it was from her grandfather. 

“I’d like to meet your grandfather more formally. I’m sure he’ll see the other day as some sort of terrible misunderstanding,” Tom said reassuringly and Billie shrugged.

“If that’s what you want to think,” She told him, making it clear that she doubted her grandfather would think any such thing. 

Sebastian just watched the teenage girl and teenage boy in amusement, believing that this was actually a lot more amusing than he originally thought. Everyone thought Billie having to hang out with someone her own age for once was hilarious but somehow this was even better. Either way, Sebastian thought this would be good for her. She needed to be around more people her own age. She’d be happy in the long run. 

Sebastian was sure of it. 

* * *

It was after they finished eating that Tom excused himself from the table after receiving a phone call from his agent, leaving Sebastian and Billie alone for the first time that evening. As soon as Tom left, Sebastian turned to Billie with a curious look on his face. Billie was about to question why the hell he was staring at her like that when Sebastian spoke.

“So you seem to be getting pretty cozy with your new boyfriend,” Sebastian said, annoying Billie by calling Tom the very name everyone had been teasing her with ever since he got casted. Billie gave him an unimpressed look.

“He’s not my boyfriend. We’re just both stuck in New York at the same time because of our obligation to Marvel,” Billie explained even though she really didn’t need to. Sebastian chuckled.

“I know, Billie. I’m just giving you a hard time,” He told her and Billie shrugged.

“Besides...Holland’s definitely not my type and I already have a boyfriend anyways,” Billie said nonchalantly and Sebastian’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion although he actually looked quite alarmed.

“Boyfriend? What do you mean boyfriend?” Sebastian questioned and Billie felt very amused by his tense stance as he went into overprotective mode. Billie might pretend to find his overprotectiveness annoying at times but deep down she liked it. It was probably the only paternal affection she’d ever get so she might as well enjoy it while she still could.

“I have a boyfriend. I didn’t think it was news,” Billie told him and Sebastian just shook his head.

“Aren’t you a little too young to have a boyfriend?” Sebastian asked and Billie gave him an odd look.

“I’m almost eighteen, Sebastian. That’s not that young,” Billie said and Sebastian tried to find something to say that would rationalize his thinking...that eighteen really was too young to date. 

“Well, I think dating in college is much wiser or in your case when you’re in your early twenties. You know, high school boys are stupid and inconsiderate, Bills,” Sebastian told her honestly and Billie decided to humor him even though her current on-again off-again boyfriend was the only high school boy she had ever dated. Her ex was significantly older than herself but he turned out to be an asshole. Billie didn’t think older guys were exempt from being assholes just because they were older.

“Right,” Billie said as she humored him. A serious look then crossed Sebastian’s face as he leaned forward in his seat and lowered his voice as if he were telling her some huge secret.

“Don’t let this boyfriend of yours pressure you into anything either, Billie. If he does then he’s not worth it,” Sebastian said to her and Billie decided not to tell Sebastian that she wasn’t exactly a virgin. She was pretty sure it would horrify him at this point since he seemed to think she was some doe eyed innocent little girl. It was kind of cute that he thought that about her if she was being perfectly honest. 

It’s not like Billie was going around having sex with random guys. Her list of sexual partners only consisted of two names currently.  
  
Theodore Rollins and Tyler Matherson.  
  
Theodore Rollins, other wise known as Teddy, who had been her first love but who also had been nine years her senior. Billie knew that was wrong to a certain extent but she had always romanticized the idea of an older man. Not someone as old as Sebastian or Chris because that was just disgusting. However, she was tired of boys her age and their idiocy. Billie had been on a couple dates with boys her own age only to discover that talking to them had been like talking to a brick wall and she was annoyed by their lack of ability in holding up an interesting conversation.  
  
Teddy had been different though.

Teddy, who worked an assistant to one of the writers on _Mad Men_ , shared in her love of music, books, and classic films of old Hollywood horror. He loved Vincent Price almost as much as she did and could talk about the genius mind of the director John Carpenter for hours. Teddy also broadened her taste in music, him being the one who introduced her to The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, and The Kinks.

He was the first guy who shared in her love of Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger, Virginia Woolf, and Edgar Allan Poe. The fact that she could just talk with him about these things for hours amazed her because no guy had ever just wanted to talk to her before. They mostly just wanted to fuck her, fulfilling their ultimate fantasy even if she was only fifteen which she was at the time. Her age didn’t matter because she was “famous”. 

Teddy was different because he made her feel older and important. Yes, he had been a lot older than her and if her mom or grandfather knew she dated a guy that much older than her then they’d probably lose their shit. Billie was mentally older anyways. She always had been. 

It no longer mattered though. 

She and Teddy crashed and burned soon enough. The relationship was engulfed in secrecy because of her fame and there was always the fear of being found out. Things would end very badly if anyone found out about her and Teddy. The age of consent in California was eighteen and Billie had been fifteen when she first started dating Teddy. The stress of him possibly getting arrested as well as his controlling and condescending behavior towards her contributed to their break-up or rather...the time he dumped her outside The 1975 concert before calling her a couple days later, begging her take him back.

Billie didn’t. 

She thought she deserved better. 

Then there was Tyler who was from the same town she was from, Billie having been in the same kindergarten class with him way back when, and Tyler who also happened to be age appropriate. He was smart, funny, handsome, and athletic with him possibly getting a full ride to college on a football scholarship. Billie was even sure he’d play in the NFL someday. He was that good but there were other things that annoyed her about him. 

Tyler liked to play the same games that most teenage boys liked to play. Games where he’d ghost her for a few days at a time just to show his friends how cool he was. He wasn’t as experienced when it came to sex like Teddy had been which was kind of a let down since Teddy had been the only guy she had sex with before Tyler. When Billie tried to supply him with hints on how to get her there, he took great offense from it which Billie thought was immature.

He also got very jealous and angry whenever he knew Billie had to kiss a male co-star for a movie she was working on which annoyed her. She just couldn’t get him to understand that this was her job. Maybe he couldn’t understand. Maybe _that_ was the problem.

At this point Billie was thinking about ending it. The distance and busy schedules also contributed to this. Tyler would be heading off to college at the end of the summer anyways. What was the point in staying together if they were never going to see each other? Billie couldn’t find a reason to stay together after everything. She didn’t think she disliked Tyler but she definitely didn’t love him. That was for sure.

“You should probably just take this thing slowly,” Sebastian continued to tell her, breaking Billie out of her musings. Now wasn’t the time to reflect on her failed relationship with Teddy and her soon-to-be failed relationship with Tyler. “I know the first love thing can be exciting but-”

“Tyler’s not my first boyfriend,” Billie told Sebastian abruptly much to his confusion.

Tyler? _So her boyfriend has a name now_ , Sebastian thought to himself.  
  
Tyler.   
  
Sebastian resisted the urge to make a face of disgust at the name. Tyler sounded like a douchebag’s name. Billie didn’t belong with someone named Tyler. That just didn’t seem right to him. 

“What?” Sebastian questioned as he finally considered Billie’s words.

“I said that Tyler’s not my first boyfriend,” Billie told him nonchalantly and Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows.

“Who’s your first boyfriend then?” Sebastian asked her and Billie shrugged.

“Just some asshole,” Billie said vaguely and Sebastian gave her a suspicious look.

“What did he do?” He continued to question her and Billie scoffed.

“What are you going to do, _dad_? Go hunt him down and rough him up?” Billie said sarcastically and Sebastian rolled his eyes at her although he had to admit that he always felt a bit weird after she called him dad. Not in a bad way or anything but Sebastian didn’t really know how to feel about that. Even if she was just kidding.

“No, it’s just weird to me that you’re dating. You’re so young, Billie,” Sebastian told her.

“I’m not _that_ young,” Billie told him. She was frustrated to a point. Frustrated because people always thought she was a child. It could be annoying at times.

“Hey, don’t grow up too fast,” Sebastian told her, a small smile on his face but there was a seriousness in his eyes that told Billie that he was giving her advice. 

“I won’t,” Billie told him and Sebastian sensed it was time to change the subject. Billie obviously didn’t want to divulge too much information about her personal life. She was right about him not being her father. He didn’t really have a right to tell her what to do. That was her mom’s job. Speaking of which…

“So your mom’s doing good then? She seeing anyone?” Sebastian tried to ask her nonchalantly but he was about as subtle as Tom was. Billie rolled her eyes.

“Oh my god. Why are you being such a dork about this?” Billie asked him and Sebastian’s eyes widened as he gave her a confused look.

“What?” 

“I know you have a thing for my mom. God, that’s weird to say,” Billie said the last part to herself. Sebastian actually blushed which Billie would’ve found amusing if it was a different situation.

“Billie…” He trailed off but Billie shook her head.

“I’ve known about it for a while, Seb. Anthony reminds me of it nearly every time I see him,” Billie said quite calmly much to his surprise. “You’re not as subtle as you think you are.”

“It’s not like that. I...well, I don’t know how to explain it.” Sebastian said nervously, feeling put on the spot by a very blunt Billie who was staring at him with that piercing gaze of hers. “It’s not like I’m creeping on your mom or anything like that. I promise.”

“So what do you want then?” Billie asked him seriously and Sebastian shrugged although he still looked anxious as he fidgeted in his seat. Billie thought he kind of looked like a teenage boy having a talk with the father of the girl of his dreams. It was kind of funny if she wasn’t in the position she currently was in.

“I don’t know,” Sebastian mumbled and Billie narrowed her eyes at him.

“Well, you better give me something,” Billie told him and Sebastian thought it might’ve been the first time he felt scared of a seventeen-year-old girl. “I know you, Seb, which means that I know the kind of girls you date. Those silly little actresses you kill time with before distance finally tears you apart.”

“I get it. You’re a man and they’re there but my mom isn’t someone for you to kill time with,” Billie continued to say as Sebastian watched her with wide eyes. “She’s been hurt a lot. My father was an asshole who really messed her up so if you want to kill time I suggest you find another actress to kill time with.”

“I don’t want to kill time with her,” Sebastian found himself saying despite the terror he felt at Billie’s harsh words. He swallowed hard as Billie’s expression turned curious. “I’ll be honest with you, Billie. I’ve really liked your mom for a long time. I would’ve asked her out a long time ago if it wasn’t for the fact that she was my co-star’s mom. I was afraid that would be crossing a boundary I couldn’t take back.”

“You don’t have mommy issues do you?” Billie asked him hesitantly which caused the older actor to give her a shocked look.

“What?” He questioned and Billie shrugged.

“I know my mom’s only a few months older than you but your mom was a single mother too so…” Billie trailed off, not knowing what else to say and Sebastian immediately shook his head. 

“No, it’s not that. Well...I might better admire your mother because of that and I don’t know if you know this, Billie, but your mom’s really incredible,” Sebastian informed Billie. “She’s the smartest person I know, other than you of course, and she’s strong, beautiful, and kind. She’s funny too.”

“A huge dork, right?” Billie said and Sebastian chuckled before nodding. She realized then from the look in his eyes that he was in love with her mom...or in the process of falling in love with her at the very least. Billie was suddenly overcome with happiness for her mother who hadn’t had the best track record when it came to boyfriends which was something they both seemed to have in common. It made her happy that someone seemed to care for her mother that way and in a way she deserved to be cared for too. 

“Yes,” Sebastian said softly, a look of affection on his face.

“Then I guess it’s a match made in heaven then,” She said just as softly and Sebastian’s gaze softened once he looked at her. He reached his hand across the table, signaling for Billie to reach her hand across the table too. She only hesitated for a moment before placing her hand in his.

“Listen, I don’t want you to think that we’ve only been hanging out because I’m into your mom or if by some miracle she’s actually interested in me too then I won’t want to hang out with you anymore,” Sebastian said as he spoke honestly with her. “Those nights when we were filming _T_ _he Winter Soldier_ together and you weren’t allowed to go out with the rest of us at night? Remember that?”

 **“** You stayed behind with mom and I and we watched movies all night. I’m still sorry that mom forced you to watch _27 Dresses_ and _The Ugly Truth_ ,” Billie told him jokingly. “She has a weakness for Katherine Heigl rom-coms.”

“I liked _27 Dresses_. That Bennie and the Jets scene in the bar was classic,” Sebastian told her and Billie laughed.

“Yeah, I’ll never admit that I liked _27 Dresses._ That would make mom too happy,” Billie said as Sebastian nodded and gave her a more serious look.

“Well, I really enjoyed those times when it was the three of us too and if your mom is interested in-”

“Seb, she really likes you too. I know this for a fact,” Billie told him honestly. “The reason she’s been avoiding you is because she didn’t think you felt the same way about her and she didn’t want to make things weird for you and I. Trust me, the whole thing is very high school.”

“That’s why she’s been avoiding me all this time?” Sebastian asked dumbly and Billie rolled her eyes.

“Like I said before, this whole thing is very high school,” Billie told him and Sebastian nodded solemnly before continuing to plead his case to the one person he probably had to get permission from in order to pursue a relationship with Sarah.

“I was just saying that I don’t want to _just_ become your mom’s boyfriend,” Sebastian said honestly, still holding her hand in his. “I’d like for us to remain friends which means that I’d never want for you to feel left out. I know how you must look at your mom’s boyfriends because I’ve been there. I just want you know to know that I care a lot about you too, Billie. That’ll never change.”

Billie was feeling very emotional at this point. Not just because there was the strong chance of Sebastian dating her mom but because, in his own way, he was telling her that he cared about her too. He wasn’t just asking her permission to date her mom but he was asking her permission to enter her life in a new and different way. Billie didn’t think she could object to that.

“So you’re sure about this? Absolutely sure?” Billie inquired gently. “Because once you cross that line, Seb, there’s no going back.”  
  
"I’m a hundred percent sure. I’ve done a lot of thinking about this during the past three years and I’m sure,” Sebastian told Billie without breaking eye contact so Billie knew he was telling the truth. “I just wish that I had done this a lot sooner.”

Billie was quiet for a moment. So much so that Sebastian started to dread what she might say when she finally spoke. However, he was delightfully surprised when she said the exact opposite of what he had been expecting.

“I guess I can be okay with it then,” Billie finally said and Sebastian smiled at her. She couldn’t remember seeing him so happy. 

“Really?” He asked and Billie nodded.

“Yeah. I mean, if I had to pick a guy for my mom then you’d be the ideal guy. Well, the second one at least,” Billie admitted and if Sebastian wasn’t so happy about Billie giving him permission to pursue a relationship with her mother then he’d probably frown. He just couldn’t find it in him to frown right now.

“The second one?” Sebastian questioned and Billie nodded before smirking at her mother’s new boyfriend. Wow...that was going to take some getting used to. Sebastian being her mom’s boyfriend.

“Yeah. I tried setting her up with Jeremy Renner because he has a house on Lake Tahoe but they never clicked,” Billie explained much to Sebastian’s amusement although he was happy things didn’t work out with Sarah and Jeremy. “Mom said he was too old for her but age is really just a number if you think about it.”

“Well, I don’t have a house on Lake Tahoe but I think I might love your mom,” Sebastian admitted and Billie wrinkled her nose in disgust, finally withdrawing her hand from his.

“Way to get all mushy, Seb,” Billie told him before giving him a curious look. “This doesn’t mean that I have to call you dad now or anything, right?” 

Sebastian gave her a horrified look which basically gave Billie her answer.

“No, of course not,” Sebastian told her quickly which gave Billie some relief. Her mom had a boyfriend once who wanted her to call him dad and Billie basically told him the nine-year-old version of “fuck off”. 

“You’re not going to ground me either or try to take away my phone if I get in trouble?” Billie inquired. Sebastian chuckled but shook his head.

“No. I’m not going to do any of that,” Sebastian promised before giving her a serious look. “I know what it’s like for your mom to have a new guy in her life so I’m not going to try and be your parent. I also know that’s the last thing you want.”

“Okay then I think I can handle this. As long as things don’t change too much,” Billie told him before giving him an unsure look. “If you ever stay over at our house then can you please not have sex with her while I’m there. I’d really appreciate it.”

“Billie, I haven’t even told her how I feel yet,” Sebastian said as he blushed at the teenage girl’s bluntness.

“I know she’ll say yes so I just wanted you to know that,” Billie told him nonchalantly. “And I’ll let Opa give you the ‘if you hurt her’ talk.”

“That man really hates me,” Sebastian muttered, not looking forward to any such talk. Billie just laughed.

“He hates every guy in mom and I’s life. It’s nothing personal,” Billie informed him, not wanting Sebastian to think her grandfather thought he was an asshole. Her grandfather was just incredibly protective of them because of everything they had been through.

“I’m just glad you’re okay with this. I know how weird and awkward these things can be,” Sebastian told her and Billie shrugged.

“It’s not that weird. Probably the same thing as my mom dating my teacher,” Billie said calmly but maybe she was so calm because she already knew there was something going on between her mom and Sebastian. She actually had quite a bit of time to prepare for this. “If Mia in _The Princess Diaries_ could handle it then so can I.”

“I’ve never seen it,” Sebastian told her honestly and Billie smirked at him.

“If you want to date my mom then you’re probably going to be subjected to a ton of mushy and ridiculous chick flicks, Sebastian,” Billie told Sebastian, wanting him to know what he was getting himself into. Billie loved her mother but she knew her mom could be a little crazy sometimes. “She thinks Kate Hudson should’ve won the Oscar for _How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days_.”

“I could get used to cheesy rom-coms,” Sebastian said, not looking to mind anything that came with potentially dating Sarah. “This will be fun. You’ll see. We could be like Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson. Your mom will be Goldie Hawn **.”**

“Don’t make this weird,” Billie told him as she laughed at him. Sebastian chuckled but before he could say anything, Tom returned to the table. He gave them an apologetic look as he took his seat next to Billie. 

“Sorry. That call took way longer than I thought,” Tom said before offering them both a smile. "Did I miss anything?"

Billie and Sebastian shared a knowing smile but chose not to reveal anything to Tom. It was between them...for now. Billie didn’t want to think about the kind of media attention her mom might get from dating her co-star. She didn’t think this kind of thing had been done before. However, Billie knew this was going to happen so they’d find a way to get through it. It was all worth it if it meant that her mom could be happy and find a nice guy. 

“Not really.”

* * *

 

After dinner with Sebastian, Billie and Tom headed back to their hotel. Billie, feeling in a better mood than usual, invited Tom to her hotel suite so they could talk more.

It wasn’t what you thought either.

Billie’s grandfather was there so there would definitely not be anything inappropriate going on. 

“Hey, Opa,” Billie said as she happily greeted her grandfather who was sitting on the couch in the living room area of their hotel suite. Tom raised his eyebrows as he walked into the hotel suite. 

He was going to be honest. 

He didn’t know what he had been expecting when Billie invited him to her hotel room. When a girl invited you to her hotel room it usually meant sex but this was Billie, after all, so he didn’t really think that’s what she had in mind. In a way it made sense her grandfather would be there.

"Mäuschen,” Her grandfather said, nodding at her as he looked up from the television. He then narrowed his eyes when he saw Tom standing next to Billie. Tom swallowed hard as the man looked at him coldly.

“Oh, right. You haven’t officially met,” Billie said as she started to introduce Tom to her grandfather. “Opa, this is Tom. Tom, this is my grandfather.”

“Hello, Mr. Aufderheide. It’s nice to meet you,” Tom said as he happily greeted Billie’s grandfather, smiling kindly at the older man who didn’t seem much older than Tom’s father weirdly enough. However, Billie’s grandfather didn’t offer him a smile in return. He just gave him a suspicious look. Tom could definitely tell that Billie’s grandfather didn’t forget what he said the day before. Without so much as acknowledging Tom, Billie’s grandfather turned his attention back to Billie.

 **“** Lass die Tür offen,” Billie’s grandfather told her in German. 

Right...Tom thought to himself as he remembered that Billie’s grandfather was, in fact, German and not American like she was. Germans were very straightforward and blunt which might’ve been where Billie got her personality from now that he thought about it. Tom’s dad always liked to joke that Germans didn’t have a sense of humor but Tom didn’t really get that. How could someone not have a sense of humor? It just wasn’t possible.

“Why would the door be closed in the first place?” Billie questioned, breaking Tom out of his thoughts. Tom wondered what the nickname her grandfather called her earlier meant. Mäuschen. Tom would have to look that up.

“Er ist ein Mann,” Billie’s grandfather told her and Billie sighed heavily before rolling her eyes.

“You don’t need to worry, Opa. It’s just Tom,” Billie said before gesturing for Tom to follow her into her hotel room. Great...because that’s just what every guy wanted to hear before a girl invited him into her room.  
  
_It's just Tom._

The hotel room wasn’t very personal looking but Tom hadn’t expected it to look very lived in anyways. It was a hotel room, after all. Tom’s own hotel room didn’t look very much lived in either although Tom only saw a suitcase in her room and about a mountain of shopping bags next to it. 

Billie dumped her shopping bags unceremoniously next to her bed before plopping down on top of her bed, phone in hand, and Tom didn’t know what else to do so he put his bag full of Lizzo records and stuff he purchased at the comic book shop down next to her mountain of shopping bags. He swallowed hard, feeling more awkward than usual, before taking a seat on the edge of her bed. 

“Your grandfather seems nice,” Tom said politely and Billie gave him a look from over her phone. 

“He’s kind of a dick,” Billie said, not believing Tom for a moment. “I love him but he’s a dick to almost everyone. I used to think it was a German thing but after spending a Christmas with some family in Munich I learned that it’s just an Opa thing.”

“I’m sure he’ll warm up to me,” Tom said optimistically and Billie returned her gaze to her phone, answering a couple texts from Tyler.

“I doubt it,” Billie said as she frowned at a message Tyler sent her. Why did guys think dick pics were attractive? Girls only made fun of them and laughed at them. Billie made a face of disdain and Tom gave her a curious look.

“What is it?” Tom asked her and Billie didn’t have any shame so it was really no big deal to her in showing Tom the picture. He’s the one who asked, after all. 

“Why do guys think dick pics are attractive?” Billie asked him as the picture of a penis nearly blinded him in the face. Tom looked from the picture to Billie then the picture and back to Billie again. His face reddened and he honestly felt lost as to why Billie decided to show him a picture of what must’ve been her boyfriend’s penis. He could probably go his whole life without seeing that.

“Billie, why are you showing me that?!” Tom said as he quickly averted his gaze.

“You asked to see the picture,” She pointed out to him and Tom shook his head.

“I didn’t know you were going to show me a picture of your boyfriend’s dick,” Tom said, still not believing what Billie just did although he shouldn't have been surprised. Billie was kind of crazy, after all.

“I just wanted to know, from a male perspective, why guys do that?” Billie questioned, still seeming oblivious as to why Tom might’ve been appalled. “Everyone knows a penis isn’t exactly beautiful looking. It’s like a plunger, right? It serves a purpose but it’s not pretty to look at.”

“That’s a lovely analogy, Billie,” Tom said sarcastically. Sometimes he couldn’t believe some of the things that came out of her mouth.

“I never claimed to be classy, Holland,” Billie said before going back to the topic at hand. “Do you send girls pictures of your…”

“Pictures of my penis?” Tom questioned incredulously before shaking his head furiously. “No, of course not. Why are we even having this discussion?”

“You said we were friends, right?” Billie said casually and Tom scoffed although he was kind of happy deep down that Billie was finally beginning to call him her friend. She had been resistant against the idea the day before but maybe now she was finally caving in. Although, this wasn’t the kind of thing he imagined for that scenario.

“And you have these kinds of discussions with your male friends?” Tom questioned doubtfully. Billie nodded.

“For the most part,” Billie said which was true. There was basically no boundaries between her and Matty. Especially since Billie and Matty grew up together so Matty was used to her craziness. “I just don’t get the dick pic thing. Girls just laugh at them and it’s not like we find it attractive.”

“I honestly don’t know why some guys do that, Billie,” Tom told her as he finally gave her an honest answer despite his obvious discomfort. “Personally, I wouldn’t since I don’t like the possibility of someone getting a hold of those pictures but I can’t speak for every guy.”

“Well, that’s good to know. My boyfriend’s just an idiot, I guess,” Billie said, causing Tom to laugh. 

“You really didn’t have to show me that picture, you know. I could’ve lived the rest of my life without seeing that picture,” Tom told her once he calmed down from his laughter. Billie shrugged nonchalantly.

“It’s just a penis, Tom,” Billie told him and Tom just shook his head although he was thoroughly amused by her odd behavior.

“Right,” Tom said awkwardly, suddenly feeling very inclined to change the subject. “Since I really don’t feel like discussing your boyfriend’s penis anymore maybe we could talk about something more appropriate for a couple of new friends.”

“Like what?” Billie asked him and Tom shrugged.

“Well, for one, dinner with Sebastian was nice,” Tom said, really just desperate to talk about anything other than the penis of Billie’s boyfriend. Billie who was the girl he was undeniably attracted to. It was also probably best that Tom didn’t then compare sizes. Maybe Billie’s boyfriend only looked that enormous because the camera was positioned that close to his…

Why was he even thinking about this? 

“Yeah, it was,” Billie said as she agreed with him, breaking Tom out of his thoughts. “I haven’t seen him in a while so it was nice to catch up.”

“He was acting kind of strange, wasn’t he?” Tom asked her and Billie knew exactly what he meant. “I mean, I don’t know Sebastian particularly well but he seemed very nervous.”

“I guess,” Billie said, acting as if she really didn’t care but truthfully she did. She felt immensely happy for her mom and Sebastian. She was also happy because this meant that maybe, just maybe, Sebastian would become a part of her life in a bigger way. Billie wasn’t going to lie and say that it didn’t make her happy that Sebastian might stick around for a while. 

“He was asking about your mum quite a bit. Are they particularly close?” Tom inquired and Billie shrugged.

“He kind of has a thing for her,” Billie finally told him and Tom raised his eyebrows in surprise, thinking that perhaps he misheard Billie for a moment there. 

“A thing?” Tom questioned incredulously. “A thing like he likes her? In a...romantic way?”

“Is there any other way to have a thing for someone? Anyways...she kind of has a thing for him back.” Billie told him and Tom just stared at the blonde in shock. He hadn’t expected _that_ to be the reason behind Sebastian’s weirdness. “It’s not like he has a thing for cougars or anything. My mom’s only a few months older than him.” 

“That’s not what I meant,” Tom said as he tried to gather his thoughts together because this truly was a...fascinating revelation. “It’s just shocking because he’s your co-star and you’re really good friends. You know, I just realized that I’ve never actually met your mum before.”

“You probably will at the premiere then you’ll realize how crazy she is and how crazy Sebastian must be for wanting any part of that,” Billie told him and Tom just shook his head even though he had to admit that someone who named their child after an Adam Sandler character had to be a little out there. 

“I’m sure your mum’s really nice,” Tom told Billie and the seventeen-year-old girl nodded.

“She is but she’s crazy. I love her though,” Billie told him and Tom felt even more excited at the prospect of meeting Billie’s mum someday. He heard countless stories about her from Billie and even Anthony Mackie talked about Billie’s mum a lot. Although Anthony Mackie basically called Billie’s mum a “MILF” which caused Billie to smack him upside the head. Tom would probably never tire of the antics of Billie versus various cast members.

“You know how Bucky and Emma are basically like father and daughter in the movies?” Tom mused aloud and Billie gave him a curious look.

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s kind of exciting that it’s happening in real life, isn’t it?” Tom said, looking very excited for Billie but Billie just looked confused. 

“What’s happening in real life?” Billie questioned and Tom looked at her as though it were obvious.

“That maybe he’s becoming your dad in real life,” Tom said and when Billie just stared at him blankly, Tom kept going on. “Just think about it. If he were to marry your mum then he would become your stepdad. If he had kids with your mum then you’d have siblings. That’s exciting, right? You mentioned before that you’re an only child.”

“I don’t need a dad,” Billie told him, highly disturbed by the thought of Sebastian marrying her mom. She hadn’t even really thought about that yet. Thanks a lot for that one, Tom. “The first one sucked so why would I want another one?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it, Billie,” Tom told her, suddenly worrying about offending Billie. He knew that her father was a touchy subject so it was probably best not to bring it up to her. “I just meant that you and Sebastian seem like such great friends. It would be cool if he became your stepdad too.”

“Well, I’ve gotten by fine without a dad for the past almost eleven years. I think I can survive the rest of my life without one,” Billie told him, seeming very cold and aloof all of a sudden. Tom really wondered about the details behind just what it was that her father did to her. However, he knew better than to ask.

“But you like Sebastian so him and your mum together would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Tom said carefully, unsure of how to tread around the subject of her father without pissing her off too much.

“It would, I guess,” Billie said, trying not to let the mention of her father upset her. She didn’t want to give her asshole of a father any satisfaction. 

“It’s a good thing then?” Tom asked her and Billie finally managed to smile at that much to Tom’s relief. She nodded.

“It is,” Billie said softly and Tom smiled back at her before deciding to change the subject. He didn’t want to risk bringing up Billie’s dad again and destroying all the progress he made with her so far. Tom felt as though Billie and him had come a long way so he didn’t want to screw that up. 

“So uh...anything else going on for you then? Other than Sebastian and your very busy movie star life?” Tom asked her half-jokingly. Billie managed to laugh at that.

“I don’t think my so-called movie star life is that interesting,” Billie told him, glad that Tom changed the subject. “I'm going to Ireland to film a movie in a couple weeks. Other than that, the most interesting thing going on with me is my publicist nagging me about joining social media.”

“Why won’t you join social media again?” Tom inquired, vaguely remembering the time Billie told him she didn’t have any social media accounts.  

“Because it’s only the worst invention of this century and basically the collapse of society,” Billie told him as if it were obvious. Tom just stared at her as he began to nod slowly. 

“It would also be a good way to connect with fans and promote your films,” Tom told her and Billie shrugged.

“Social media is a gathering of narcissists who brag about their vacations and the fancy restaurants they eat at,” Billie retorted. “I’m not saying I don’t go on vacations or eat at nice restaurants but at least I don’t brag about my lifestyle. That’s what’s wrong with our generation.”

“Our generation?” Tom questioned and Billie nodded.

“Yes, we’re from a generation of selfie obsessed narcissists who think they’re entitled to everything,” Billie said, sounding more like a grouchy old man than a teenage girl. However, since it seemed like she spent a majority of her time with a man at the end of his fifties then it actually made perfect sense. 

“Well, maybe that’s true but you could use social media as a way to promote a different kind of lifestyle, couldn’t you?” Tom suggested gently to her and Billie gave him a confused look.

“What kind of lifestyle?” Billie asked him.

“Well, you seem to have an amazing taste in music and I know you read a lot too,” Tom told her as he tried to think of a way he could convince Billie to join social media although this just might've been the most difficult thing he ever had to do. “You don’t just have to use social media to promote your own career. You were just telling me on the car ride to the restaurant that you thought that musician you’re a fan of is underrated.”

“You mean Mitski?” Billie said and Tom nodded.

“If you wanted to then you could recommend people to listen to new and amazing music artists that you think deserve more recognition,” Tom told her sincerely and Billie had to admit that Tom now had her attention. “You could also encourage more people to read since you seem to love reading so much.”

“I’m a member of Book of the Month Club. They have a lot of new debut authors that are very talented,” Billie said quietly and Tom raised his eyebrows. For all her talking about nerds, Billie seemed to be quite the nerd herself...or book worm at the very least. 

“Well, you could recommend books and music to people as well as promoting your films like your publicist probably wants,” Tom told her and Billie had to admit it was a lot to think about. At least, she was thinking about it. She usually just told her publicist to leave her the hell alone. 

“I don’t know,” Billie said, still sounding a bit unsure.

“I’m not saying you have to join every social media website out there. You can just join Instagram if you want,” Tom told her as he tried to better his argument and convince Billie to do the impossible. “Instagram is just pictures basically. You barely even have to caption the pictures.”

“I know what Instagram is,” Billie said quietly.

“Well, I really happen to enjoy it. I think you would too and it would finally be a way to get your publicist off your back,” Tom said helpfully and he then took out his phone as if to show her. Billie watched curiously as he brought up his Instagram and began to scroll through it.

It wasn’t as if Billie was completely cut off from social media. Her friends had Instagram accounts so she knew a little bit about it. She just had never dived into those waters herself although she had to admit that she was just as curious as she was scared. Billie happened to think social media was a terrible thing and especially for young girls. Every teenage girl had low self-esteem, even Billie, and she didn’t think social media could help in that aspect with all the negativity and trolls out there.

“Look, here’s my friend Harrison,” Tom pointed out as he started showing her all his posts and Billie paid avid attention. “These are my brothers Sam, Harry, and Paddy.”

“This is Tessa,” Tom pointed out and at first Billie thought he was talking about a girlfriend until she saw a cute dog that seemed to take up several posts on his account. Figures. Tom _would_ be the sort of guy to obsess over a dog rather than a girl. Good for him, she guessed. “She’s adorable, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is,” Billie said, not knowing what else to say. Tom gave her a curious look.

“You said your mum’s a vet, right? You must’ve grown up around animals,” Tom inquired and Billie shrugged.

“For the most part,” Billie said before mentioning something else she was a little hesitant to mention. “Being the daughter of a vet is kind of hard.”

“How so?” Tom asked curiously. 

“You always see animals come into the clinic but they never come back out,” Billie said cynically and Tom nodded in understanding. He could see how hard that could be. 

“So you’re not an animal person?” Tom asked her and Billie shook her head.

“No, I really love animals but I also know they’re not here forever,” Billie then waited a minute before adding the last part. “Just like people.”

“What?” Tom said, thinking he might’ve misheard the last part. She almost mumbled the last part so it was difficult to understand her.

“I had a guinea pig once,” Billie told him, completely changing the subject. Tom gave her a surprised look, completely forgetting about her mumbled remark, as he tried to picture Billie with a guinea pig. For some reason he couldn’t. “His name was Hermann. My grandfather named him. He thought a German name was very fitting.”

“Hermann the guinea pig?” Tom said, amused that someone as blunt and serious as Billie could have something so soft and cuddly for a pet. 

“He was a Peruvian,” Billie told him and when Tom gave her a confused look, she explained. “It means his breed is one that has very long fur. He was the type of guinea pig you showed at county fairs and competitions. A show pig.”

“You did that? You showed your guinea pig at fairs and competitions?” Tom questioned and Billie shook her head.

“No. It seemed very cruel so he just lived a long and happy life at home with lots of carrots and timothy hay,” Billie said, a faint hint of a smile on her face from the memory of her now dead pet. “Mom got him for me as a present. She said it was to teach me responsibility or some stupid parenting crap like that but I think it was to cheer me up after the divorce.” 

“I’m sorry you lost him,” Tom told her sincerely and Billie looked back at him, snapping out of her thoughts. She shrugged.

“He was just a rodent,” Billie said casually, echoing the same words Teddy said to her when she bawled her eyes out after Hermann died. She expected her boyfriend to be a shoulder to cry on when in reality he just rolled his eyes at her and patronized her for being so young. 

_He was just a rodent, Billie. Grow up._

“You loved him just the same though, didn’t you?” Tom said, saying the exact opposite of what she expected. Billie looked up at him in surprise. “I know I’d be a mess if anything ever happened to Tessa. I just love her to death. I don’t think it matters what kind of pet you have.”

“I’ve never really had a pet since then,” Billie said, hoping to change the subject. “Dogs don’t really seem to like me. My mom’s dogs hate me and I don’t like cats either.”

“I can’t stand cats too but I’m sure dogs love you,” Tom said helpfully to her but Billie just shook her head.

“I think they sense an evilness in me. Probably what they’d sense in a serial killer or something,” Billie said with a completely serious expression on her face which made Tom just stare at her, not knowing what to say to her. She rolled her eyes after a minute.

“Relax, Holland. I’m just kidding,” Billie told him and Tom let out a nervous laugh. “So that’s what you do on Instagram. Post pictures of your dog?”

“Pretty much,” Tom said, giving Billie a small smile. “So what do you think? Are you ready to join the rest of the world on Instagram?”

Billie took a deep breath before looking back up at Tom.

“If this ends badly I’m blaming you, Tom,” Billie told him and Tom felt a rush of excitement sweep over him. She was finally caving in and somehow Tom convinced her to do it. “You do have a point about social media, I guess. It might also get my publicist off my back. I feel like she brings that up every single time she talks to me which is around three to four times a week.”

“Well, let’s do this then,” Tom told her and Billie raised an eyebrow. 

“Now?”

“Yes, now,” Tom told her as he nodded his head. Billie just looked at him for a moment before finally relenting and retrieving her phone from her purse which had been strewn upon the bed. 

From the moment Billie unlocked her screen and downloaded the app, Tom became her essential guide in finally entering the world of social media. He guided her through creating an account and how to navigate Instagram. Billie kind of wondered if this was how Steve Rogers must’ve felt when re-entering society seventy years later. She wished that Marvel just made a movie about Steve Rogers creating social media accounts, watching Miley Cyrus music videos, and discovering what porn was. Maybe she’d suggest the idea to Chris the next time she saw him. 

“So what’s your first post going to be?” Tom asked Billie once they set up her whole account on Instagram. She made her profile picture a picture from the episode of _Mad Men_ when Sally got a nose job because of sword fighting with golf clubs. Billie felt as though that told people what they were going to get from her Instagram account. She then sighed as she just stared blankly at the screen.

“I don’t know. Something that tells people that they’re treading into dangerous waters,” Billie told Tom who only laughed in response.

“And how exactly are you going to do that?” Tom asked her once he calmed down a bit from the laughter. 

Billie didn’t say anything as she just went through her photo library in search of a photo for her post. She finally landed on one that she thought represented who she was. It was just a simple picture of San Antonio’s famous River Walk she took at the end of the summer. Billie was a Texan through and through, no matter how far she was from Texas, so she thought the picture was very fitting. 

“There...done,” Billie said as she finally posted the picture and it’s caption. Tom raised his eyebrows to try and get a glimpse at her phone. 

“Really? That fast?” Tom questioned doubtfully when Billie subsequently hid her phone from him. Tom frowned. “You weren’t even going to let me see it before posting it?”

“You’re not my dad,” Billie said with a snarky tone and Tom just rolled his eyes before he turned his attention back to his phone so he could find Billie on Instagram. It didn’t take him long before he found Billie’s new Instagram account which, big surprise, already was gaining quite a few followers even though Billie only created the account several minutes ago. That didn’t surprise him though. 

“Oh my god, Billie. Did you really use that as the caption?” Tom questioned, holding back a laugh before reading the caption from the post aloud. “Finally trying out this social media thing. The collapse of society here I come.”

“I think that sums up all my feelings right now,” Billie told him and Tom just shook his head at her. 

“You really are crazy,” Tom told her, looking highly amused by Billie. “I don’t care though. I’ll still follow you.”

Billie didn’t know if he meant that literally or just on social media but she supposed it didn’t matter in that moment. Even if Billie didn’t want to admit it, she might’ve started seeing Tom as a friend. Mackie would give her shit for ever saying that she liked hanging out with Tom but it was true. He was nice and he was an actor like her. Sure, Billie occasionally chatted with Tye Sheridan whenever she saw him at an event but they weren’t particularly close. Billie certainly didn’t have long, amusing conversations with Tye like she did with Tom. 

Maybe, just maybe, Billie could actually have a friend in the movie business. She never had one before. There was Chris, Anthony, Lizzie, and Sebastian but that was different. They were significantly older than her so she more like a little sister on set. She never had a friend that was in the same line of work as her nor did she have one that was the same age as her as well. Billie thought that maybe her mom and Matty were right.

Maybe having a friend like Tom would be good for her. 

She then glanced at his focused expression as he was practically glued to his phone. Billie fought the urge to roll her eyes. Of course, he was disgustingly enough the very teenager he was but if she could get over her boyfriend’s immaturity then she could put up with Tom’s teenagerish obsession with social media.

Besides...he was nice and Billie could do with some nice people in her life. He could balance out her unpleasantness very well and she was completely okay with that. 

Billie glanced at the way his eyebrows knitted together as he focused on something he was reading on his phone. For some reason she found the dorky look on his face attractive. As much as Billie professed her love for “real men”, she seemed to have a thing for dorks too. Tom was clearly as dorky as they came. Well, a very built dork because Marvel must’ve had him on an intense diet and training routine. His arms were evidence enough of that. 

The blonde actress was fully able to admit to herself that she found him attractive in that cute looking dork way. She wasn’t blind. Tom was hot and that was completely okay with her in terms of them being friends. He wasn’t the first hot guy she worked with and he certainly wouldn’t be the last. They were strictly friends and that was that.

Billie might’ve had a boyfriend and Tom was strictly her friend but that still didn’t mean that she couldn’t look. 

Looking was okay, right?

* * *

  
“Stop shaking,” Billie told Sebastian from her seat next to him on the plane. They were currently sitting in first class on a flight from JFK to the San Antonio International Airport. Her grandfather was sitting in the aisle across from them, casting Sebastian suspicious looks every now and then from behind his magazine.

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little nervous about this, Billie,” Sebastian told her honestly as he gripped the armrest of his seat. The Romanian-American actor looked more anxious than Billie had ever seen him be before. This was a guy who got a little panicky every time they had to do an interview or panel in front of a large audience of people. A part of Billie found it adorable that he was getting more nervous about this than anything else.

“Why?” Billie asked nonchalantly as if this were, in fact, no big deal at all.

“Probably because I’m going to Texas, a place I’ve never been to in my entire life, to tell the woman I love to take a chance on me all while not looking like a lunatic to her,” Sebastian told Billie in a sarcastic tone. Billie could practically see her grandfather rolling his eyes at Sebastian. It was clear to Billie that there was probably no guy in her or her mother’s love life that could impress her grandfather.

“Mom will eat this shit up. You do realize declaring your love for a girl in an airport is the most rom-com thing you can do,” Billie told him as she looked up from her book.

She was currently reading _The Way I Used to Be_ by Amber Smith. It was a heartbreaking novel about a high school girl who navigates her high school years after being sexually assaulted by a family friend. Probably not the kind of book to read on a plane surrounded by a lot of people because Billie was sure she was going to cry. Either way, the book was still helpful research in getting insight in the state of Emma Rogers’ mind since Emma went through a lot of the stuff the main character went through in the book Billie was reading.

“You’ll be like Ryan Reynolds or Gerard Butler to her,” Billie told her friend/mom’s potential boyfriend.

“It is kind of weird though, right?” Sebastian said, still seeming unsure about this whole thing. Billie had to admit that she thought Sebastian was kind of crazy when he told her that he would be joining her on her way home to Texas.

For one, Sebastian had never been to Texas before so that was crazy all on its own without the fact that he was going there to declare his undying love for Billie’s crazy mother. Billie hadn’t minded Sebastian tagging along with her and her grandfather although she was sure her grandfather didn’t agree. He had been giving Sebastian the evil eye ever since they all arrived at the airport. Thankfully, they arrived separately so the paparazzi didn’t get any pictures of Sebastian with Billie and her grandfather drawing the public’s interest as to why they were together at the airport.

The paparazzi was the one thing they didn't need right now.

She was sure they caught some pictures of Tom and her in New York so any pictures of Sebastian with her and her grandfather weren’t needed. It had been a day since she said good-bye to Tom who caught the first flight back to London after they were finished with Marvel’s weird undercover school thing. Billie was just glad that it was over. A part of her had always been a little curious about the high school experience but Billie could now confidently say that curiosity was forever satisfied. She did get along really well with Danielle so at least there was that but Billie couldn’t take being around that many kids her own age. It was a little too overwhelming for someone like her.

And no...it wasn’t a child actor thing.

It was an only child thing.

“If a guy showed up at an airport and declared his undying love for _me_ I’d probably tell him to go to hell,” Billie told him honestly and Sebastian gave her a look of disbelief.

“Thanks a lot, Billie,” Sebastian told her and Billie shook her head.

“But I’m not my mom, Seb,” Billie said, finally getting her point across. “She’ll love it because she’s a little weirdo like you.”

“I know this is your way of trying to comfort me so I’ll just thank you instead of being offended,” Sebastian said, trying not to let Billie’s bluntness give him anymore anxiety.

“I just hope you know what you’re getting out of all this,” Billie told him and Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” He questioned and Billie shrugged nonchalantly.

“If you’re looking for some kind of woman that can cook you meals and follow you around the world on movie sets all the time then you’re out of luck,” Billie informed Sebastian. “My mom may be a southern woman but she can’t cook for shit. She’s also always at her clinic. Her clinic is one of the most important things to her right...other than me, of course. Well, I hope I’m just as important as the clinic.”

“I know your mom can’t cook, Billie. Why do you think I care about that? You really spent too much time on _Mad Men,”_ Sebastian said jokingly, causing Billie to roll her eyes, before taking a more serious tone. “As for the rest...we’ll figure it out. I don’t even know if she’ll have me so I’m not going to worry about the other bigger things.”

“Yeah, because my mom wants absolutely nothing to do with the guy she low-key stalks on film sets,” Billie said sarcastically much to Sebastian’s amusement but he also felt some relief in knowing that Sarah must’ve felt the same way about him. Billie wasn’t one to lie about stuff like that.

“Well, if things do go well I was thinking that maybe I could spend some time in Texas,” Sebastian tried to say casually but Billie could tell he was still very nervous. Sebastian really wasn't as subtle as he thought he was. “I’ve never really been there before. You and your mom really seem to love it there and it’s your home so I’m really interested in seeing everything. I don’t expect to stay with you guys or anything. I could probably stay at a hotel somewhere-”

“The minute you confess all your mushy feelings to my mom, you’ll definitely be staying at our place,” Billie told him confidently. She could hear her grandfather make a noise of disapproval from across the aisle.

“Of course, Sebastian could always stay with _you_ , Opa,” Billie told her grandfather teasingly as she smirked at him. The older man glared at both her and Sebastian before returning his gaze to his magazine, grumbling something in German under his breath. Sebastian just stared at him, not knowing what to say to the father of the woman he loved. It was clear to him that the German man didn’t like him.

“He really hates me, doesn’t he?” Sebastian asked Billie and the young girl just shrugged.

“You’ll grow on him eventually,” Billie said reassuringly but Sebastian didn’t know how reassured he felt. The thirty three-year-old man then turned in his seat to look over at Billie’s grandfather.

“Hey, Ulrich,” Sebastian said awkwardly, giving the older man a kind smile. Ulrich Aufderheide’s form of a greeting was just a short nod with suspicious eyes before looking back down at his magazine. Sebastian nodded to himself before turning back to look at Billie as if to emphasize his point.

“If it helps, he likes Jeremy Renner even less than you,” Billie said, thinking she was being helpful and Sebastian just rolled his eyes.

“Thanks,” Sebastian said sarcastically. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before something suddenly occurred to Billie.

“Hey, if you and mom want alone time together I could stay with Opa. He’s got a place on the other side of town,” Billie said, not wanting to be a cockblocker between her mom and Sebastian...or Vagblocker. Whatever the correct term was.  
  
She knew she was treading into really weird territory here but Billie just wanted her mom to be happy. Billie always felt like she maybe she got in the way of her mom’s love life too much. Raising a kid as a single mother was bound to take up a lot of a person’s time so Billie always worried that she was the reason her mom was still single. Her mom never complained or made Billie feel that way but it was always a fear hidden in the back of her mind.

“Billie, you don’t have to do that,” Sebastian said to her with a frown on his face. “I know your mom and you are a package deal and I’m more than okay with that. We can all spend time together.”

“Really?” Billie asked him and he nodded with a soft smile on his face.

“Yeah...I mean, I love your mom but I also…” Sebastian trailed off before he lowered his voice slightly as if he were afraid of being overheard and blushed as he looked at her. “Billie, I love you too.”

Billie’s eyes widened in shock at what he just said. Sebastian even seemed surprised at what he said.

“I uh...don’t mean it in a creepy way. Like, I’m not trying to-” Sebastian started to say but Billie stopped him.

“I know what you meant,” Billie said abruptly and Sebastian stared at her, trying to get a read on what her reaction might be. He couldn’t tell if she was reacting well or not well to this news.

Billie could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

He loved her? Sebastian really loved her?

Billie totally knew that he loved her mother but she didn’t think he loved her too. His words echoed in her ears over and over again. A part of her didn’t believe that he had actually said that but in reality Billie knew what he said.

It was so strange hearing those words coming from the mouth of someone who wasn’t her mother. Sure, Billie’s grandfather loved her but he never said it. He wasn’t very good at expressing his emotions, kind of like her, but Billie always knew how he felt. Billie’s mom, however, always told her that she loved her. Always showering her with affection because maybe her mom was compensating for her father’s absence.

Her father.

Her father was the only man who had ever loved her yet he left. He always made promises and told Billie how much he loved her yet he so easily left her behind like she meant nothing to him. It occurred to Billie that Sebastian was the first man in years that told her he loved her. The last one told her he loved her before he left and never came back. Billie shouldn’t feel too elated at Sebastian’s confession because he could easily leave and never come back too. Even so, Billie still felt an overwhelming feeling of happiness that Sebastian saw her and her mother as a package deal.

Billie wouldn’t lie.

She saw Sebastian as a sort of father figure and she knew she always missed him when he was gone. Billie enjoyed all the time they spent on set because it was almost like having a father again. She felt that way from the start. Billie always told herself that it was a mistake because even if Bucky Barnes was like a father to Emma Rogers, it didn’t mean it was the same way in real life. Billie never allowed herself to get used to Jon Hamm when they did _Mad Men_. She told herself that none of it was real and that Jon wasn’t really her father.

This was different though.

It was still hard telling herself that after spending so much time with Sebastian and then watching him interact with her mom time after time.

Somewhere along the way Billie knew that she had come to love Sebastian too. Whether or not she loved him as a girl would love her father, Billie didn’t know. However, she knew she loved Sebastian as a friend and that could be enough for now.

“I love you too,” Billie said quietly, not quite looking Sebastian in the eyes. Both of them were very awkward and reserved people so they could both accept that this was incredibly difficult for them.

Sebastian wasn’t going to lie. This made him very happy.

He didn’t know where this sudden family man version of himself came from. Maybe it was from meeting Billie and then Sarah before spending so much time with them. Not only did he fall in love with Sarah but he fell in love with their family dynamic. He never really thought about settling down and starting a family before he met them but after all the movie nights he spent with them in the midst of all the talking and laughter, he discovered it was all he wanted. Suddenly all the movies, premieres, and after-parties weren’t enough for him anymore.

He craved more.

“Let’s not tell anyone about this,” Billie suggested because in all honesty she still didn’t know what this was. She didn’t know if she loved Sebastian as a friend or a father. It was a confusing time for her and she still needed to get all her emotions in order.

Sebastian nodded in agreement.

Little did Billie know but Sebastian also didn’t know what this was. He knew he loved Billie but he wasn’t quite sure if he loved her like a daughter or friend. It was an in-between area that he wanted to spend more time to explore. Hopefully he’d be able to contemplate on those feelings with Sarah at his side...if she would have him, that is.

“Agreed,” Sebastian said and Billie nodded to herself. She was more than ready to change the subject from this. Sharing her emotions was never exactly her forte.

“You might get some alone time with mom, after all,” Billie said, getting back to the topic they were discussing earlier. Billie really just wanted to move things along from the confession of love they had just made. That was still kind of weird and Billie really hoped that Sebastian didn’t want her to call him dad at this point because she was nowhere near ready for that.

“What?” Sebastian questioned, caught off guard by her randomness. Billie shrugged as her eyes landed back on the pages of her book but she was too distracted to focus on any of the words.

“Opa and I are going to Ireland to film another movie in a couple weeks,” Billie informed him and Sebastian raised his eyebrows in surprise, their previous conversation being temporarily forgotten.

“Ireland?” Sebastian questioned. “What about the _Civil War_ press tour? It’s only two months away.”

“It’s an indie movie and it’s last minute. I worked with the director on _Begin Again_ and the lead actress dropped out so I decided to step in,” Billie said as she began to explain her latest project to a still surprised looking Sebastian. “I really love the script and I’m playing an Irish character which I thought would be challenging so I’ve been working with a dialect coach a lot over facetime.”

“It’ll take less than a month to shoot so I’ll be back before you know it,” Billie told him reassuringly.  “I just wanted to be here for my mom’s birthday before I left.”

“Do you ever take a break, kid?” Sebastian said, sounding overwhelmed by this news. He couldn’t believe the amount of work this crazy teenage girl seemed to take on. Sebastian didn’t know how she did it. Well, Billie was very young so she probably had a lot more energy than he did but still.

“Nope,” Billie said, seeming quite satisfied with this. “I’m booked for the next year and a half...so far.”

“Just try and get some rest during all this. I don’t want you to work yourself to death,” Sebastian told her and Billie rolled her eyes.

“It’s just acting, Sebastian. It’s not like I’m performing surgeries or laying bathroom tile,” Billie said, not taking him seriously.

“All that traveling can be exhausting. Just pace yourself, okay?” Sebastian suggested, still looking worried about her and Billie nodded. She hadn’t meant to worry him or anything like that. The blonde gave him a small smile.

“I will,” Billie promised and Sebastian nodded in satisfaction at her answer.

“Good,” Sebastian said before he relaxed in his seat, trying to get himself to calm down and not have a panic attack at what he was about to do. Something then occurred to the actor as he suddenly turned to her. “Do you think I should’ve gotten her flowers or something like that? Does she even like flowers? I can’t remember.”

“And how the hell would you have brought flowers via carry-on?” Billie questioned, raising an eyebrow at the very nervous looking man. Sebastian blushed but nodded to himself.

“You’re right. Flowers would’ve been ridiculous.”

“ _You’re_ ridiculous.”

“Thanks for that, Billie.”

* * *

  
“Billie!” Sarah Aufderheide exclaimed in relief as she ambushed her teenage daughter. Billie laughed as her mother hugged her tightly and Billie hugged her back. In all honesty, Billie was really happy to be home and back with her mother. She had only been away for a few days but it was always nice to be home.

“Mom, don’t make a scene,” She told her mother as they pulled away from each other. The airport was crowded but it wasn’t like LAX or JFK. Billie didn’t draw a crowd of people with cameras here and no one seemed to even notice her. San Antonio was amazing like that.

“I’m not but I just missed you,” Sarah told her as she tried to see if there was anything different about her daughter. It seemed silly because Billie had only been gone for a few days but in her eyes Billie was growing up so fast. She would be eighteen in a couple months and that was terrifying to Sarah.

“I’m here,” Billie said as if she were reassuring her. Sarah smiled.

“Well, you have to tell me all about New York. Tom, the school, and the meeting with Greta…I want to know everything,” Sarah told her daughter before looking around Billie for Billie’s luggage. “Where’s your stuff?”

“Opa went to go get it. I just have my carry-on stuff with me right now,” Billie told her and Sarah nodded. Billie bit her lip nervously. “Speaking of which...I should really mention something, mom.”

“Mention what?” Sarah questioned, not looking particularly bothered.

“Opa and I didn’t come back to San Antonio alone,” Billie said as she tried to find a way to tell her mom that Sebastian was, in fact, here. The petite blonde woman frowned, looking very confused all of a sudden.

“Did Tom come with you?” Sarah asked her and Billie almost choked on her own breath.

“Tom? Why the hell would Tom come here with me?” Billie asked with a horrified look on her face. Sarah shrugged, beginning to realize that Tom more than likely wasn’t here based off Billie’s reaction.

“You’re always talking about him,” Sarah pointed out and Billie scoffed.

“Yeah, always talking about how _annoying_ he is,” Billie muttered and her mother didn’t look like she believed her but she chose not to push Billie on the subject. She’d probably only make the moody teenager even moodier.

“So who’s here?” Sarah asked, still clearly confused by who Billie had brought back with her from New York. Billie was about to say who it was when Sarah was distracted by someone walking towards them. The blonde teenager noticed the shocked look on Sarah’s face and turned around.

Sebastian was walking towards the mother and daughter duo with a nervous look on his face.

“Well, I guess I don’t need to say who,” Billie muttered to herself.

For a moment Sarah thought she was imagining Sebastian there in the airport because why would he be in San Antonio of all places? She was almost sure he had never been to Texas in his life so there was really no clear reason why he would come all the way down south from New York. Maybe she really did miss him that much. She was just imagining him in places now because she had officially lost her mind.

“Hey, Sarah,” Sebastian said as he gave her an awkward smile. Billie could tell he was scared out of his mind. She knew this was really difficult for him so she hoped it went well for his and her mom's sake.

“Hi…” Sarah trailed off, looking bewildered as to what Sebastian was doing there. So she wasn’t imagining him there, after all. That was good to know.

“Billie said she was going home so I thought I might tag along and say hi,” Sebastian said as if getting on an almost five hour flight to a state he had never been to was nothing unusual. A part of Sarah knew that there was probably a _very_ good reason as to why Sebastian came all this way just to see her and it wasn’t only to say hi. However, another part of her was in denial because that was just ridiculous. Sebastian couldn’t have come all this way just to see her. He was probably filming something here in Texas. That was the only reason that Sarah could currently think of.

“Are you filming something here?” Sarah asked because that’s the only thing she could think to say without sounding like a moron. Sebastian shook his head.

“No, I’m not,” Sebastian said and Sarah could feel her heart racing in her chest. She was only starting to realize that there was another huge reason behind why Sebastian was here. She’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t know why that was.

“Oh,” Sarah said softly and Billie looked between the pair with wide eyes. She didn’t know how this was going to go exactly. Billie had a good feeling that her mother was practically going to throw herself in Sebastian’s arms once he gave her his Richard Gere or Hugh Grant love speech. However, she still knew this was a moment meant for the two of them.

“I’m just going to wait with Opa over there while you two...yeah,” Billie said awkwardly but it was clear that Sebastian and her mom were barely listening to her at this point. Billie didn’t blame them. This was a long time coming.

Billie then quickly backed out of there and made a beeline for her grandfather who was waiting on the other side of the terminal. People passed her by but no one noticed her so Billie doubted anyone would notice her mom and Sebastian’s rom-com moment. They just looked like another young couple reuniting at an airport. Super cliche and boring to most probably.

“So this is finally happening,” Billie said as she stood next to her suspicious looking grandfather. They both watched her mom and Sebastian from afar as the two then engaged in a very long and meaningful conversation that probably just should’ve happened a while ago.

“I don’t like him,” Ulrich grumbled as he glowered at the man who was currently trying to romance his daughter.

Sarah had never been like himself or Billie. Where is, Billie was very cynical, serious, and not as trusting, Sarah was clearly the opposite. The almost thirty four-year-old woman had always been kind, warm, and welcoming. Even as a little girl she had always seen the good in people and trusted a little too easily for Ulrich’s comfort. He supposed she was a lot like his late wife in that sense. Ilse had been the same way too.

With Billie, Ulrich didn’t feel quite as protective over her as he did with Sarah. It wasn’t because he loved Billie any less. It was actually because Billie was a bit more realistic than Sarah in terms of how the world worked and how people were. Sarah, however, was more of a...pushover in other words. She, at times, let people walk all over her so Ulrich felt a stronger need to protect Sarah rather than Billie. Sarah needed more protecting because she was more vulnerable to get hurt. Billie, even at such a young age, was much tougher than Sarah.

“He’s not like my father,” Billie murmured softly as she watched her mother and Sebastian talk. This caused her grandfather to look over at her in surprise. “You never really knew my father but I did. He wasn’t a good person. No sense of loyalty, no moral compass, and he didn’t care about anyone but himself. He was a manipulative piece of shit but Sebastian’s not like that. He’s the exact opposite of that.”

Billie continued when her grandfather didn’t say anything.

“You weren’t here for the first seven years of my life when it was really tough,” Billie said quietly. Her grandfather looked down at her with a regretful look on his face but Billie didn’t look angry or sad. She actually seemed quite calm. “You and mom had your family drama so I get it. We’ve all made amends since then so all is forgiven but I’m just saying that you don’t really get how much of an asshole my father because you weren’t there to see it.”

“You only have a small idea from the days he and mom dated in high school but I can tell you he was a lot worse when he was older,” Billie informed him as her grandfather listened intently to her. “So when I say that I like Sebastian then believe that means that he’s a good person and that I trust him with her...because I know what’s best for her since I’ve been with her through everything.”

“All I ask is for you to be nice to him and not give him a hard time,” Billie told him and her grandfather’s gaze softened at the hopeful expression on his granddaughter’s face. “You can give any one of my boyfriends hell for all I care but leave Sebastian alone. He loves mom and he’s important to me.”

There was a brief pause of silence as Billie’s grandfather considered this. Her gaze was unrelenting as she stared at him expectantly, making it clear that he wasn’t allowed to think about this. Ulrich then gave Billie a hesitant look before finally answering her.

“I’ll…try,” He said slowly and Billie raised her eyebrows at him. He sighed heavily. “Fine, I’ll be nice.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Billie said as she turned away from her grandfather to look back at her mother and Sebastian. She smirked when she saw that their little chat seemingly went _very_ well because they were now locked in a passionate kiss. So her mom really did get her rom-com fantasy, after all. Good for her...although Billie was pretty sure she knew exactly how Emma felt in that scene she filmed in Civil War where Emma watched Steve kiss Sharon. It was nice as much as it was awkward for her.  
  
“Because it looks like we might be stuck with Sebastian for a while.”

“The things I do for you, Mäuschen,” Her grandfather murmured and for the first time in a while Billie felt remarkably happy. It had been a while since she allowed herself to feel this way but she could tell that Sebastian was going to be a really good thing. Especially since she, you know, loved him and everything now which wasn’t a big deal. She wasn’t going to currently put a label on whatever their relationship was right now. Billie saw him as a friend/father figure so that was enough for her right now.

Wow...Billie never even got this nervous about labels when it came to actual boyfriends and not her mother’s boyfriend. Maybe it was because Sebastian was just that important to her.

“This will be good for us. You’ll see,” Billie told her grandfather confidently. He only nodded but Billie was very sure of Sebastian being a good thing in her and her mom’s lives. She was only excited for what the future might bring them now. Hopefully it was all good things from here on out.

Billie still wasn’t going to call him dad though.

 

* * *

 

**Is the Viper Assassin Dating Spider-Man in Real Life? Billie Aufderheide and Childhood Sweetheart Over for Good?**

_By: Valerie Mitchum(via Seventeen.com)_

_February 7th, 2016_

It’s not a shocker that Billie Aufderheide’s personal life has become of public interest in recent years...or since Billie became old enough to date since the _Captain America: Civil War_ actress is only seventeen.

Billie is perhaps the coolest girl in Hollywood right now.

She was spotted at several rock concerts lately including that of Lana Del Rey, Florence + The Machine, The Arctic Monkeys, and even Alice Cooper to name a few so we know she has an amazing music taste. Billie also stars in basically every Miu Miu ad campaign which seems to be her go-to fashion label for every event and premiere she attends so we also know she has an amazing taste in fashion. Lastly, Billie seems to have a more low-key presence on social media which was non-existent until a couple days ago when she joined Instagram, her first post being very cryptic.

It’s enough to say that other than the _Mad Men_ alum’s large body of work, which includes films like _Zombieland_ , _Let Me In,_ _Begin Again,_ and her work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Billie Aufderheide is a justifiably interesting person.  
  
Which is why her love life as of late has garnered a lot of attention.

Billie has had a lot of rumored boyfriends. Basically every young eligible bachelor in Hollywood has been linked to the Texas native. Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tye Sheridan, Nat Wolff, Harry Styles, and Shawn Mendes to name a few of the actress’s rumored boyfriends.

More than likely, all of these rumored boyfriends are, in fact, rumors and Billie’s recently been linked to childhood sweetheart Tyler Matherson since Christmas. Linebacker for Lindale High School’s football team, the very athletic and good looking teen is a hopeful for Texas A&M University where he’s likely to attend college in the fall. The couple was first photographed right before Christmas doing some last minute Christmas shopping in Austin, Texas. They were photographed again two weeks ago in New Braunfels, Texas where Billie and her super smart and hot looking young mother now lives.

A source told _Seventeen_ that Billie and Tyler have known each other for a long time, having at one point been in the same kindergarten class at Lindale Elementary. They reconnected last spring at a party through mutual friends and have been crazy about each other ever since although long distance must be a give-in with Billie’s busy filming schedule.

The seventeen-year-old actress wrapped an almost five month film shoot last year for _Captain America: Civil War_ before she was casted in the Seth Rogen comedy _Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising_ which is due to come out just two weeks after _Civil War_. That’s not even mentioning her upcoming indie horror film, _The Witch,_ which will probably give the whole world nightmares in September. The Texan actress also just finished filming a secret project opposite James McAvoy and directed by M. Knight. Shyamalan before signing on to do a music/drama film in Ireland helmed by _Begin Again_ director John Carney who Billie worked with on the same film years ago opposite stars like Keira Knightly, Mark Ruffalo, and Adam Levine.

Now that you’re all caught up in the young starlet’s very busy filming schedule, it’s enough to say that the actress is overwhelmingly busy. Maybe a little too busy to have a boyfriend but even a little too busy to now have a _new_ boyfriend apparently.

And who might be this new rumored guy in Billie’s life?

None other than Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland.

The London born actor’s casting as Spider-Man/Peter Parker was announced last June and ever since then he’s been a frequently googled actor as anticipation builds up for what’s possibly the biggest movie of 2016. The nineteen-year-old actor is no newcomer to the acting business either. He starred as the title character in _Billy Elliot the Musical_ , his West End debut, before starring in films such as _The Impossible_ , _How I Live Now_ , and _In the Heart of the Sea_. The new Marvel actor has garnered a lot of critical acclaim for his roles so there’s no doubt he’s a very talented actor. However, it’s the recent pictures of him and Billie hanging out in New York City together that has gotten a lot of attention.

Two days ago, Billie Aufderheide and Tom Holland were spotted shopping together and looking very cozy as they chatted and laughed over coffee as seen in the pictures below. Keep in mind that Billie was just photographed with her boyfriend the week before in Texas which begs the question…

Did Billie break up with her childhood sweetheart or is she just friendly with her new co-star?

Many comic book fans might be happy about this rumored relationship between Billie and Tom. In the comics, Billie and Tom’s on-screen counterparts were famously a superhero couple. The Viper Assassin and Spider-Man met as villain and hero but the line between love and hate is very thin so it didn’t take long before the two fell madly in love with each other. The Viper Assassin turned away from the dark side as she became an Avenger before eventually marrying Spider-Man, the two Avengers then settling down with a family of their own.

The comic book romance between Emma Rogers and Peter Parker is so beloved by comic book fans everywhere that Tom being casted as Peter Parker in the MCU has made a lot of people curious as to whether or not there’s going to be a Spider Viper romance in the movies too. At the same time, these recent pictures of Billie and Tom in New York have sparked debate over a real life Spider Viper romance. Something which would make Marvel fans everywhere happy if true.

Billie’s rumored role in the new Spider-Man film might allow for the busy actress to get even cozier with her co-star. The actress/fashion model and actor/dancer would make a very cute couple if their rumored romance is true.

Do you think Billie and Tom are dating or are they just friends?

Vote in the poll below.

_Valerie Mitchum is the Entertainment Columnist at Seventeen.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram!_

Other Recommended Articles

**Billie Aufderheide Dumps Childhood Sweetheart for British Co-Star!**

**Who is Billie Aufderheide’s New British Actor Boyfriend? Get to Know Her Latest Boyfriend Here as We Break Down His Instagram Timeline.**

**Marvel Co-Stars Dating in Real Life. Billie Aufderheide Seen Getting Cozy with Tom Holland in NYC.**

**Billie Aufderheide Splits from Childhood Sweetheart and Moves On with Co-Star Tom Holland.**

**Spider Viper. Young Hollywood’s New “It” Couple.**

**Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Mackie Poke Fun at Marvel Co-Stars’ Rumored Relationship on Social Media.**  
  
**Sebastian Stan Plays Third-Wheel During Dinner Out with Marvel Co-Stars Billie Aufderheide and Tom Holland in NYC.**

 

It was enough to say that Billie and Tyler's relationship didn't last much longer after that.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billie goes to Coachella for her eighteenth birthday and has one too many Jell-O shots. Trouble ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry. I wanted to update sooner but I just started my new job so I've been pretty busy. I'm not sure how soon the next update will be. I want to update STNS on fanfiction.net next so it still might be a while. Next chapter is definitely the start of the press tour though. 
> 
> WARNING: Underage drinking in this chapter.
> 
> I also don't own the movie Begin Again. I used some of the dialogue in this chapter so I thought I'd just leave this disclaimer here.
> 
> Thanks for all the comments last chapter. I really appreciate it. Let me know what you think of this chapter.

  
 

* * *

  
**Greenwich Village, New York**

**Summer, 2012**

Billie sat in her seat at the bar as the make-up artist made a few touch ups to her make-up. To her left, Mark Ruffalo’s own make-up artist was making a few touch ups to Mark’s own make-up. Of course, Mark just sat there like a pro as always. Billie thought the older actor was okay. He was a huge hippie which Billie could give a shit less about but her main issue with him was that he was a lame dad who told dad jokes.

Billie didn’t take to men who were sickeningly paternal like that.

She quite despised paternal men but it was more because of jealousy than anything else. Mark’s children probably didn’t know how lucky they were to end up with a dad who told lame dad jokes and pretended that he knew how to use his phone when he really didn’t. Billie’s father hadn’t even come close to that.

It had been seven years since her father left and Billie’s once idolization of him morphed into resentment. It only took a few months after he left for Billie realize that he wasn’t coming back like he said he would. Still...a part of her had always held out hope for a phone call or an e-mail but she never received anything of the sort. Her mother tried to hide it from her but she overheard her Aunt Linda saying that her father hadn’t even fought her mother on a custody agreement. He just allowed her mother to have full custody of her without even trying to file for joint custody.

Billie realized then that her father didn’t want her anymore.

She remembered her seven-year-old self bawling her eyes out as she wondered what she did to drive her father away. Billie’s heart broke into a million pieces because she loved her father but he didn’t seem to love her in return. Sarah held her daughter as Billie cried and cried about her daddy but Sarah just felt helpless because there was nothing she could do.

That was the day Billie changed from the silly little girl who waited by the window each night, hoping to see her daddy’s car headlights coming down the long dirt road to their house, to a more cynical child with a bitter but realistic outlook on the world. She knew it made her mother sad that she wasn’t the same person as she was before the divorce but it’s not like her mom could do anything about it. Billie knew her mom blamed herself for her cynical nature but Billie wished she wouldn’t. It wasn’t her fault.  
  
It was her asshole father’s fault.

Billie promised herself she would never cry over another man again. Not her father and especially not a stupid boyfriend. Not that Billie had really ever had a boyfriend. Well...she had gone out a couple times with a German boy Billie met earlier in the summer when her grandfather took her to see family in Munich.

Michael was kind and thoughtful but it wasn’t serious.  
  
Billie held hands with him on occasion and they only kissed twice. Once on the back porch of her great grandmother’s house and once when they went swimming the afternoon before she left. Billie liked that he hadn’t known who she was. Most boys asked her out back home because she was “famous” but Michael just knew her as Billie who was Elke Klaussner’s American cousin.

Billie liked Michael but she didn’t like him enough to cry over him. She didn’t shed one tear when she told him goodbye before Billie’s Great Aunt Anna drove her mother, grandfather, and her to the airport. She just watched him wave at her with a sad look on his face as he stood next to her cousin Elke. Billie gave him a small smile and waved back at him through the window as he became smaller and smaller until he completely disappeared from sight. Billie’s mom gave her hand a comforting squeeze, thinking she needed to be comforted, but Billie hadn’t been that sad.

She was proud that she hadn’t cried. In a way Billie felt that if she cried over Michael then it would mean her father won.  
  
Billie didn’t want her father to win.

“So how’s school going for you, Billie? Excited to go back?” Mark asked her, breaking Billie out of her thoughts about her father. She was supposed to be very still as the make-up artist did some last minute touch-ups so Billie didn’t turn her head to look at him. “You should be starting your freshman year, right? High school...that’s exciting.”

“I’m actually homeschooled,” Billie told Mark who nodded in understanding. He should’ve guessed that since Billie was technically a child actor.

“That’s too bad. High school’s a lot of fun,” Mark told her and Billie gave him a doubtful look which he was oblivious to. He then glanced back towards the crew members and noticed Billie’s very young looking mother chatting with some of the crew. “Your mom seems nice. Does she come with you to film sets often?”

Billie struggled not to make a face of disdain. If there was one thing Billie hated more than anything then it was small talk. Mark seemed to be alarmingly good at small talk which annoyed Billie.

“Either her or my grandfather,” Billie said vaguely. Mark nodded.

“That’s good. You know, a lot of adult supervision is really good,” Mark told her while Billie wished that she was anywhere but in that seat next to Mark. He was so paternal that it made her skin crawl. “You can have a nice head on your shoulders and just…”

Billie soon tuned the older actor out as he rambled on about god knows what.

The fourteen-year-old actress didn’t regret signing on to do the movie even if the actor who played her father rambled on a lot. She was a big fan of the director, John Carney, who previously directed the film _Once_. Billie didn’t think she bore a strong resemblance to Mark Ruffalo enough to be cast as his daughter but it was just cool to work with Mark. She had seen him in the Avengers movie a couple months ago. Even though she had never been a fan of superhero movies outside _Captain America: The First Avenger_ , Billie had really become a fan of the MCU after Avengers. Billie doubted she was the only one either. She had yet to meet a person who disliked the Avengers movie.

Either way, it was just amazing to meet Mark although Mark blabbed quite a bit about what was in store for the anticipated sequel. Billie didn’t even ask him yet he seemed to volunteer the information willingly. She was sure he was breaking some kind of nondisclosure agreement with Marvel but that was his problem, not hers. It wasn’t Billie’s fault that Mark Ruffalo had a big mouth.

Billie was just grateful to be cast at all in this new movie she was filming with Mark Ruffalo. _Begin Again_ had an amazing plotline and it was so grounded in reality within the music scene that it was captivating to Billie who loved music. Well, loved _listening_ to music anyways. This was also an amazing opportunity for Billie to take on more roles outside _Mad Men._ Now that she was getting a little older, she found it more difficult to nab parts as a teenager. When she was younger it was easier because there was little girl parts everywhere but now it was getting more difficult. She wasn’t the cute little girl from _Mad Men_ anymore.

Billie was a teenager.

Other than Disney Channel, there wasn’t a lot of parts for a child actor who was now a full-on teenager. People tended to be scared of teenagers. Billie didn’t really blame them.

However, things were starting to look good for her. She had finished filming an indie film with Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Carell right before summer began and she had recently been cast in the new season of _American Horror Story_. Now she was acting in a John Carney movie opposite Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, and Adam Levine. Life was going pretty good so maybe Billie would be one of the few child actors who could defeat the odds and put her child actor past behind her. Maybe she would just become a regular actor, leaving the child actor title in her past which was all Billie could really hope for.

“What kind of father would take his daughter to a bar?” Mark mused aloud, snapping Billie out of her thoughts as her make-up artist finished up on her face. Billie turned to look at him incredulously.

“What?” She questioned, eyes wide with surprise. For a moment Billie thought that maybe Mark somehow knew about her…that he knew about her loser of a father and he was taunting her about it.  
  
Billie couldn’t help it.  
  
She was paranoid about that kind of thing, always worrying whether or not people would find out about it and mock her.

Poor Billie.  
  
Her father took her to bars and got drunk before gambling away what was left of their money. Poor Billie, the child actor, whose father left her because she wasn’t good enough for him to want to stay. Poor Billie with a deadbeat con-artist of a father who used to take her with him while he stole cars at the same time her mom was trying to keep a roof over their heads. Poor Billie was just like all the other fucked up child actors in Hollywood. Only her problem wasn’t drugs and alcohol.

It was her father.

“Nothing. I’m just thinking aloud,” Mark told her, a wave of relief washing over Billie as she realized that Mark wasn’t talking about _her_ father. He was talking about their characters. “As a father I just can’t imagine taking my kids to a bar and getting drunk off my ass.”

Billie covered up her laughter with a cough.

The irony of the situation didn’t escape her. Here Mark was talking about his disbelief that a father would ever do that to his own child when he was unknowingly talking to a girl whose father had done that exact thing. The whole thing was pretty laughable.

The resemblance between her character’s father and her real father didn’t escape Billie either. She wasn’t blind. Her and her character’s circumstances were very similar. Their fathers both had a massive drinking problem as well as exhibited irresponsible and reckless behavior. The only difference was that Mark’s character actually stuck around unlike her own father who just took off.

“Maybe he’s bonding with his daughter the only way he knows how,” Billie said bitterly. Mark gave her a confused look because it was an incredibly odd statement for someone to make. However, before he could question what she meant by that, the director came by to give them a couple notes before they started to film the scene.

Mark’s unanswered question was soon forgotten.

* * *

 

“So what I want you to do, Billie, is to walk away from your father,” John told her as he prepared her for the next scene.

She was a little cold on the streets of New York dressed in a pair of short shorts and a crop top. Billie felt like a hooker. It’s not exactly how she’d normally dress but Billie’s character Violet was going through her “slutty clothes” phase and trying to act older than she was so she understood why she was dressed like this. Billie was still cold. To her, New York was still cold even in the summer. Texas was much warmer and she missed Texas right about now.

Mark stood alongside her as they both listened to direction from the Irish director. It was only Billie’s fifth day of filming the movie and second day of filming the bar scene. She and Mark just got finished running down the street away from the angry bartender for the other scene so now they had moved on to this one. Billie also saw the looks mothers gave her as she ran in her short shorts and crop top, shielding their children’s eyes from Billie’s indecent outfit.

Right...because that wasn’t embarrassing at all. Although, Billie had to wonder why these mothers were so horrified by her outfit. This was New York, after all. There was probably girls more scantily dressed than her.

“When he gets punched by the bartender, I want you to walk away in not only fear but shame,” John continued to tell her as both Mark and the actor playing the bartender listened in. “Your father’s disappointed you time and time again and he’s embarrassing to you. This isn’t the first time he’s disappointed and embarrassed you so I want you to show that when you walk away.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Billie said as she nodded in understanding. Well, she only understood what John was saying because the situation was more than a little real to her.  
  
Billie knew exactly what John meant.

“Great,” John said happily before looking over at Mark and the other actor. “You two good as well?”

Mark and the other actor nodded.

“Good, good,” John said as he nodded before stepping behind one of the cameras, joining the various other crew members. “Everyone get in your places. Remember, Mark and Billie, you’ve just run down the street away from the bar. You think you’ve gotten away from the bartender only to find out you’re both very wrong.”

Billie and Mark nodded as they got into their places, remembering their marks, and waited for John to call action. There was a bit of pressure to get this scene right since this was a low budget film and they only had the street for an hour and a half. They couldn’t afford to book the location for much longer.

“Action,” John called, causing both Billie and Mark to run around the corner of the street. They pretended to be more winded from the run than they really were since, in the scene, Billie and Mark’s characters had been sprinting away from the bar because they hadn’t paid their tab.

Once they rounded the corner, Mark held out his hand for Billie to take and Billie didn’t hesitate in placing her hand in his as he ushered her in front of him. Mark gave her a huge grin, chuckling from the supposed “fun” they just had. He panted a little bit before continuing to grin at her in a way that reminded Billie of her father when they used to have “fun” too...or his idea of fun, anyways. Billie’s dad always used to talk about the fucked up positions he put her in like they were fun little father-daughter bonding experiences instead of things that would only mess her up later in life.

“That was fun, right?” Mark asked her, in character, as he pointed at her. “C'mon. Don’t smile.”

Billie, in character, gave Mark an almost amused look.

“It was fun, dad,” Billie told him and Mark rested his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

“Yeah, you had a good time,” Mark said casually as he nodded. “We haven’t ran like that since you were little. That was good.”

Billie then looked past him as the actor who played the angry bartender walked up from behind Mark. Mark, still in character, followed her gaze by turning around to face the bartender.

“Is this your daddy?” The actor/bartender asked Billie as Mark attempted to give him a charming smile to get himself out of the situation. The exact same thing her father used to do when he was put in the same position as Mark’s character. “Look away.”

Billie didn’t hesitate to look away, her character knowing exactly what was coming.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re here because I was just-” Mark started to say when the bartender raised his fist and fake punched Mark in the face. Mark grunted in pain as he stooped down and covered his nose. Billie looked at him in horror before walking in the opposite direction away from the embarrassing scene.

The scene began to trigger more memories than Billie ever thought possible. Flashes of that night from seven years ago appeared in her head...when her father got drunk before getting the shit knocked out of him from a couple rednecks in a parking lot. The fear she felt that night returned to Billie in that instant and everything felt a little too real for her. Even if this was just a movie, it suddenly didn’t feel like just a movie to her.  
  
It felt like more.

Tears flooded Billie’s eyes as she continued to walk down the street. The tears weren’t fake though. The tears were actually very real. Billie wasn’t acting much as she walked down the street in a scared and ashamed state. Billie doubted that she had even needed any direction from John for the scene. She was more than fine without it as it would seem because the scene seemed to be bring up many unpleasant memories for Billie that she wished she could just leave in the past.

“I’m sorry. I’m fine,” Mark said he shook hands with the actor/bartender and Billie remembered that she was supposed to look back at them for the scene. The older actor held up his “badly hurt” nose as the actor/bartender finally walked away. “My bad. Have a great day.”

Mark then turned back to face her, still holding up his nose, before saying something that was completely and entirely her father. It was _so_ her father that Billie was sure he may have said it at some point in the past. Billie was almost completely positive of that.

“I could’ve taken that guy. I just didn’t want to make a scene.”

“And cut!” John shouted, ending the scene. Billie and Mark both visibly relaxed as a weight felt like it had been taken from off their shoulders. A make-up artist rushed to blot Billie’s tears with a tissue. John walked up to the pair.

“That was really lovely, guys,” John said, commending Mark and Billie on their performances. Mark gave Billie a small encouraging smile before looking at John who grinned at Billie. “Billie, my god. That was beautiful. I think you both nailed the first take so well that I don’t even think we need a second one. That was amazing.”  
  
“Thanks,” Billie and Mark said simultaneously.

“Well, I think we’re done for the day. Mark, we’ll be doing a night shoot later but, Billie, we’ll be picking up things tomorrow,” John told her and Billie nodded. “Take a break then. Lydia brought some pastries from the bakery down the street so help yourself. There’s some vegan, gluten-free ones in there for you, Mark.”

“Will do, John,” Mark said happily as he practically skipped off to stuff his face with a vegan muffin or something similar. However, Billie gave John a small smile before she walked off to go see her mother, deciding to skip a muffin because the last thing she needed to do right now was to eat her feelings.

“That was amazing, Billie. Oh my god, you and Matt from _13 Going on 30_. I’m still trying to process this,” Sarah said and usually Billie would’ve told her mom that Mark Ruffalo was a critically acclaimed actor that probably should’ve been recognized for his work in films that weren’t cheesy rom-coms from the 2000s. So when Billie remained silent, Sarah frowned.

“Are you okay, Billie?” Sarah asked her daughter in concern as she noticed the look on Billie’s face. Billie gave her mother a reassuring look.

“Yeah, I’m fine, mom. I’m just still reeling from the scene. You know...actor stuff,” Billie said, excusing her emotional state for acting. Her mom wasn’t an actor so she probably wouldn’t know the difference.

“Okay. If you’re sure,” Sarah said hesitantly before giving her daughter another small smile, trying to think of a way to cheer Billie up. “Hey, why don’t we change you out of those wildly inappropriate clothes so we can go do something touristy. I think this is the longest we’ve ever been in New York.”

“That sounds like fun,” Billie said quietly. Sarah, thinking this was an acting thing, just nodded as she happily began to ramble on about all the things they could do while in the city.

“We can go to one of those expensive pizza places. You know, with the pizza that isn’t from Little Caesars but from one of those pizza parlors with the cute little Italian family that’s been making pizza for five generations,” Sarah said as she talked excitedly to a less than happy Billie who just wanted to get the memory of her father out of her head. “We can also visit that fashion museum in the city. You’ve always wanted to go there, right?”

“Yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun,” Billie said, trying to sound excited and Sarah just nodded happily.

“It’ll be fun,” Sarah promised before looking down at her daughter’s clothes in distaste. “Come on, we really need to get you out of those. Wearing clothes like that is exactly how I got pregnant with you.”

“Mom!” Billie exclaimed, blushing vibrantly. Sarah giggled at Billie’s expression as she rushed to explain what she meant.

“Although I’m one hundred percent glad that I wore those clothes and had unprotected teenage sex because you were a nice little surprise that I’ll never regret,” Sarah promised her which caused Billie to blush even more, looking around cautiously to ensure no one overheard her crazy mother. “I’m just saying that I would prefer you to not have children for a very long time.”

“Mom, please I-” Billie started to say but her mom cut her off.

“I know it’s asking too much for you to wait until I’m in my fifties to make me a grandma because you’d be well into your thirties by then but at least wait until I’m forty,” Sarah said much to Billie’s humiliation. “That’s all I ask.”

Billie scoffed.

“Jokes on you. I’m going to adopt a pair of creepy Serbian twins when I’m fifty three,” Billie muttered and Sarah just laughed, not taking her daughter seriously at all.

“Well, I’ll love those Serbian twins just the same,” Sarah said kindly, more than used to Billie’s odd behavior. Billie just smiled softly. She was just glad to be able to get her father off her mind for once.

This movie was taking a toll on her but maybe in a small way it was payback against her father. She was successful now and she had done it all without him. Billie hadn’t needed him at all. Maybe she never did.

Billie didn’t know but she _did_ know that the tears she shed weren’t because of him. She promised herself she would never shed a tear over another man again and she intended on keeping that promise.

The tears she shed today didn’t count.

It was just a movie.

At least, that’s what Billie told herself.  
 

* * *

**Los Angeles, California**

**April, 2016**

Billie Aufderheide wrinkled her face in annoyance as her phone’s alarm blared in her ears. The blonde teenager groaned as she reached for her phone which was lying on the opposite side of the bed. She immediately fumbled with the screen before somehow managing to hit snooze so she could catch ten more minutes of sleep. Billie had just flown in from San Antonio the night before and then the week before that she had flown home from Dublin, Ireland. It was enough to say that Billie was a little bit jet lagged after all the traveling.

This was just the beginning too because next week was the beginning of the _Civil War_ press tour. Billie would be having to fly to China and Singapore with the rest of Team Cap soon enough. She was excited to travel to Asia since she missed those stops on the previous press tours, being the youngest cast member and all, but she was also not looking forward to all the flying. As much as Billie loved traveling, she hated the restless feeling of being on planes.

“Billie! Wake the fuck up! Come on, don’t be lazy!” Nellie yelled as she pounced on the bed, causing Billie to grumble as she buried herself underneath the covers.

“Leave me the fuck alone,” Billie grumbled as Nellie started jumping on the bed.  
  
Nellie was Eleanor Watkins. Billie’s other best friend ever since Billie, her mom, and grandfather moved to LA when Billie’s mom started going to college in LA. Billie’s mom and grandfather rented the house next to the house where Nellie and her mom lived. She was probably the only female friend Billie had and probably because they had grown up together. Also because Nellie was almost as crazy as Billie.

Almost.

“I’m not going to leave you the fuck alone,” Nellie argued much to Billie’s disapproval. “It’s your birthday. Your _eighteenth_ birthday to be precise. Come on, get up. We have a big day ahead of ourselves.”

“Since it’s my birthday can’t I just sleep in until noon while everyone leaves me alone?” Billie questioned as she tried to ignore Nellie but Nellie could actually be really annoying when she wanted to be.

“No, you can’t,” The brunette said as her oak green eyes dazzled with mischief. “Because the last time I saw you was forever ago so we’re going to have fun and spend some time together before you go hang out with a bunch of celebrities for the next month.”

“I know you think me hanging out with a bunch of celebrities is cool but this group of celebrities are actually really lame,” Billie said sleepily. “Downey, Evans, Renner, Johansson...they’re all a bunch of really old dorks.”

“Whatever. We’re still going to have fun together,” Nellie told her friend seriously. “It’s your eighteenth birthday, Billie! At least, be a little happy.”

“What’s the big deal about turning eighteen?” Billie asked in annoyance, finally sitting up in bed once she realized that Nellie wasn’t going to let her sleep. “It’s not like I can drink or anything. That’s the only thing I care about. You might as well wake me up when I turn twenty one.”

“Well, you can drink in England which is where you’ll be in a couple weeks so I guess you’ll have to drink enough for the both of us,” Nellie said with a huge grin on her face as she nudged Billie playfully. Billie managed to crack a smile at that.

“I guess you have a point there,” Billie said before the smile quickly fell off her face. “But there’s no reason to celebrate here. I’m basically as useless as ever. I mean, I could buy cigarettes if I wanted but I don’t even smoke so what’s the point?”

“You can vote,” Nellie tried to say helpfully and Billie rolled her eyes before scoffing.

“Yay! I get to vote for a bunch of corrupt politicians with hidden agendas and who make promises they’ll never keep,” Billie said sarcastically. “I’m so thrilled, Nellie. This is the day I’ve been waiting for my entire life.”

Billie then made a lewd gesture that was definitely not lady-like before continuing to complain about the shit show that was America’s election.

“All I care about is booze at this point so this election can go fuck itself for all I care.”

“Charming, Billie,” Nellie said as she rolled her eyes at the eccentric actress. “I’m glad to see how politically active you are.”

Billie didn’t like politicians. They reminded her of all those suck-ups in Hollywood with their greediness and sliminess. Billie nearly cringed at the thought of those parties she sometimes had to attend to rub shoulders with producers and agents. The whole thing always rubbed her the wrong way because Billie hated fake people. LA was filled with fake people but so was D.C.

“Now let’s stop talking about the election or I’m going to make myself sick,” Billie said and Nellie nodded in agreement. Today was supposed to be fun. The election was probably the last thing two teenage girls wanted to talk about on the day that Billie officially became a woman.

“Agreed,” Nellie said before grinning at Billie again. “Guess what else you can do now that you’ve turned eighteen?”

“Other than participate in the election?” Billie inquired sarcastically and Nellie nodded.

“One word,” Nellie said dramatically before squealing out the name of something Billie had forgotten about until that moment. “COACHELLA!”

Billie’s eyes lit up in excitement as the grumpy look on her face disappeared and was replaced with an excited expression. She squealed in excitement with Nellie even though she would never admit that she did something so girlish like squealing.

“Coachella! Yes! I can’t believe I almost forgot!” Billie said excitedly as she felt her heart race in her chest. It seemed like the name of the music festival gave Billie feelings that no man could ever give her. She had never been to Coachella before but it had been a dream she had for years to finally go. Billie thought it was the closest thing to Woodstock she’d ever get. The blonde was famously obsessed with the summer of love era of music. Of course, Coachella was no Woodstock but it was as close as she would get.

“The 1975, Banks, Father John Misty, and Lana all day and night!” Nellie exclaimed excitedly and Billie nodded.

“Lana, yes,” Billie said just as excitedly as Nellie. “I’m so excited to hear her perform the songs from her last album.”

“I mean, it’s not my top favorite album of hers but every album she puts out is amazing so that’s not really saying much,” Nellie said honestly. 

“She keeps raising the bar higher and higher every time,” Billie said in agreement. “God, I don’t even know what my favorite Lana Del Rey album is. I love them all equally. They’re like my children or something. I just can’t pick.”

“It’s her debut album for me,” Nellie said and Billie nodded slowly. “ _Born to Die_ is amazing. The original is always better than the sequels,” Nellie cutely pointed out to Billie, making an interesting correlation between music and films.

“Since you picked _Born to Die,_ I’ll go with _Paradise_ and _Ultraviolence_ ,” Billie said thoughtfully. “Wait...I’ll just go with _Paradise._ It reminds me of Summer 2013 which was my favorite summer. That and I still need time to process the last album. _Honeymoon_ was way different than the others. I can't tell if I like it yet.”

“I hope Lana performs ‘Freak’ and ‘Salvatore’,” Nellie said hopefully. “I fucking love those songs.”

“Me too,” Billie told her and Nellie sighed longingly.

“I still can’t believe you actually met her,” Nellie said, clearly jealous. Billie’s eyes lit up at the memory because even though it had been almost two years since she met Lana Del Rey, she still couldn’t believe it herself. Lana Del Rey had composed a couple songs for the film _Big Eyes_ which Billie had starred in so she got to meet her favorite singer at the premiere of the film.

“Me neither,” Billie as she finally started to get up from bed. As much as she loved talking about Lana Del Rey, Nellie was right. She really had to get ready for the big day. It was going to be an insanely long one.

Billie’s mom had gotten Billie and Nellie tickets to Coachella for her eighteenth birthday. Her mom made it clear that was all she was getting but Billie didn’t care. It was all she wanted. It would be the first music festival she had ever attended as well as the first concert without the company of her mother. Billie loved her mom but she didn’t really want to experience Coachella for the first time with her mom. That would be really weird.

So now that Billie was eighteen, she was legally old enough to attend Coachella without a parent which was why both she and Nellie were going together. Billie also knew some other friends of theirs(or rather Nellie’s) would be attending the festival too so they would be going in a group. This was probably the only reason why Billie’s mom was comfortable with letting her attend the festival without her.

“Hurry up, we have to get dressed,” Nellie told her with a completely serious look on her face as if this was a serious Avenger level mission. “My mom is with your mom and Sebastian downstairs making breakfast. Sebastian said that we’re leaving at seven because it’s going to be a long drive to the festival.”

“Sounds fair,” Billie said as she nodded before moving to her suitcase to look for the outfit she already had picked out for the festival.

That’s probably something else she should mention.

Sebastian and her mom were officially a thing now. God...that was really going to take some getting used to.

Sebastian and her mom had been dating for around two months now. Sebastian’s love confession at the airport seemed to seal the deal. Billie liked rubbing it in Sebastian’s face that she was right about her mom having feelings for him back. For once, he didn’t get annoyed that she was right. He was happy that she was right.

Billie had only been around them for a couple weeks during the first stage of their relationship. She felt like she was mostly the boundary between them during those first few dates they had, Billie playing the third-wheel for most of those dates. In a way, she helped them ease into a transition from friends to a romantic partnership.

The best part about it was that Billie never felt left out when they went out to eat together or like that day they all explored San Antonio together. It was almost like they were a family unit which was weird because for so long it had only been Billie and her mom but it was also a nice change. Billie just liked to see the two people she loved most in the world happy together. It had been forever since she had seen either of them quite so happy.  
  
Their happiness made Billie happy in a way.

Sebastian hanging around the house had been a weird sight to wake up to every morning but then she grew used to them having breakfast together as they waited for her mom to wake up. In a way, Billie felt as if she had grown even closer to her co-star and now mother’s boyfriend. He told her stories about his childhood that he had never told her before while her mom was at work and they were left to their own devices. Those were the days they mostly just walked around town as they talked while Billie showed him all her favorite spots in town.

She told him about how she liked going inner-tubing down at the Guadalupe River during the summer to cool off with all the other Texans. Sebastian gave her an appalled look as he told her how dangerous it was to swim in water moccasin and alligator infested waters. Billie just laughed and told him there was nothing to it before making him promise that someday he’d swim in the river too. He begrudgingly made the promise when she pouted long enough to tug on his heartstrings.

They’d take her mother out for lunch when she went on break, taking her to what became their favorite local restaurant in town.

Nights consisted of Billie and Sebastian being forced to cook dinner together because her mother was useless in the kitchen. They would tease her mother about her cooking abilities and she would glare at them playfully before immaturely sticking her tongue out at them. Conversations at the dinner table were mainly what Sebastian, Billie, and her grandfather had gotten up to that day as well as Sarah talking about her work day. Dinner would end when Sarah gave them too much information about an amputation she had to perform on some poor dog that had been hit by a car. Billie and Sebastian would start to clear the table after immediately losing their appetites.

After dinner they would act like a little family.  
  
Billie and Sarah did their usual nightly tradition of binge-watching the new season of the sitcom _Mom._ Their current favorite show. Of course, once they found out that Sebastian had never seen the hilarious Allison Janney and Anna Faris sitcom, they just had to go all the way back to the beginning of the series and binge-watch that too.  
  
Sebastian didn’t seem to mind.  
  
He laughed at the antics of the female-led cast just like they did. It seemed like Sebastian entered their nightly ritual just like that.

Billie would watch him from the corner of her eye as she laid sprawled across the floor of the living room. Her mom’s rescue dogs Bonnie and Clyde, a Blue Heeler/Beagle Mix and a Lab/Rottweiler Mix, would rest on the floor in front of the television a distance away from her. They never liked her enough to want to cuddle with her but Billie never minded. Dog fur was a hassle when it came to delicate clothing. However, it wasn’t the dogs Billie would discreetly glance at from time to time while watching TV.

It was Sebastian.

He’d sit on the couch as if he had sat there a million times before...like he always belonged in a way. His arm would be wrapped around her mom with her mom resting her head against his chest as if she had always been in his arms...like _she_ belonged. They didn’t seem to notice the gravity of the situation, too caught up in the tv show, but Billie noticed.

Then they would bid each other goodnight at the end of the night with Billie going to her room and Sebastian and her mom going to her...no, correction, _their_ room.

Sebastian hadn’t really moved in or anything.  
  
It was just a result of them living so far apart. It made sense for him to stay with Billie and her mom. Just like it made sense for Billie and her mom to stay with him at his place in Los Angeles while they were there. Although, Billie had actually spent the night at Nellie’s house as they had their first sleepover in forever. It reminded Billie of the many sleepovers they had when she was still living in LA while filming _Mad Men_. Billie had to admit it was kind of weird to see a new and different family living in the house across the street where her mom and her had lived for several years.

“Ooh! I love that outfit,” Nellie said as she saw the white peasant dress Billie had slipped on that went to below her thighs but quite a bit above her knees. It was really short on her because of her long legs but Billie didn't mind. It would probably be hot out anyways. “You look really Summer of Love right now.”

Billie took that as a compliment.

“Thanks,” Billie said before glancing at Nellie’s long bohemian and colorful looking dress. “Your dress is cute too. It’s really Florence Welch.”

“I know!” Nellie exclaimed excitedly. “I spotted it at Playclothes and I had to get it.”

“Let’s start on our make-up. Did you bring that fancy free makeup you get?” Nellie asked hopefully and Billie laughed before nodding.

“Yeah, it’s in my makeup bag,” Billie said and she was nearly deafened by Nellie’s high pitched squeal. The blonde laughed in amusement at her friend who was a little more excited than usual. Billie understood her excitement though. “Could you braid my hair into that cute crown thingy? You know what I mean, right?”

“Of course,” Billie promised, still looking very amused by Nellie.

“And could you do my eyeliner? I’m always shit at doing my own eyeliner,” Nellie said as she continued to pester Billie as they made their way into the bathroom, make-up bag in hand. She rolled her eyes playfully at the brunette. “You should be a makeup artist instead of an actress. You’re really good at it.”

“Well, it’s five in the morning, Nellie,” Billie told her and Nellie raised an eyebrow.

“So?”

“So let’s see how good my makeup skills are at five in the morning.”

* * *

“You’ll call me if anything goes wrong, right?” Sarah asked her daughter and Billie sighed but nodded. They were in the car on the way to the festival. Sebastian was driving and her mom was in the passenger seat while Billie and Nellie were in the back. It was still early in the morning. Nellie was catching some sleep on the way to the festival but Billie was much too excited to sleep. She had been looking forward to this since her mom got the tickets.

“Of course,” Billie told her mom and Sarah didn’t seem to push for a better answer. She knew Billie was responsible, more than she had been at that age, so she trusted her. Sarah trusted Billie a lot which made Billie feel guilty at times because she had actually lied a lot to her mother and snuck around behind her back. Where her ex Teddy was concerned anyways.

Billie felt bad about lying to her mom about Teddy but Billie had really wanted him. She thought she deserved to get what she really wanted because she so rarely did. That might’ve sounded ridiculous because she was rich and famous but Billie was talking about getting what she wanted in a deeper sense.  
  
Billie wondered if she would ever tell her mother about Teddy.

Probably not anytime soon.

Maybe when her mom was on her deathbed someday...fifty some years from now.

“Just make sure you stay hydrated and everything. It’s going to be warm and I don’t want you passing out or something,” Sarah told her and Billie nodded as she started scrolling through Instagram. Billie hated admitting it but she kind of liked Instagram. She used it to spy on people and Billie liked spying on people.  
  
Instagram stalking was her new hobby.

Stupid Holland for getting her addicted to Instagram.

“I’ll be fine, mom,” Billie told her mom reassuringly before she paused over a really nice Birthday post Tom made about her. She stopped and stared at the picture he posted of them during one of those long days on set when they had been filming _Civil War_. He was in his Spider-Man costume while Billie was in her Viper Assassin one. Tom was grinning at the camera with his arm thrown casually over Billie’s shoulders while Billie was just staring blankly at the camera, not looking amused by him at all.

_The birthday girl enjoying my company as usual. Happy eighteenth birthday mate. I’ll buy you a pint in London during the press tour. See you soon._

Billie pretended to be disgusted by the fact that he called her his “mate”. Ew...that was so alarmingly British. In a way it was worse than all the times he referred to her as “love”. Billie hadn’t seen him since New York but she texted and facetimed him occasionally. Well, a lot, actually. Billie would never admit that he was her friend but she kind of considered him to be a friend…reluctantly, of course. Holland seemed to have a way of annoying his way into her cold heart. Not in a weird way but just in a friendship way.

Speaking of which…Billie was annoyed to find out that Tom became a new member of a whole list of famous guys that she was apparently dating. People seemed to think they were secretly dating which was ridiculous. Her publicist even called her at one point to ask her whether or not the rumors were true which Billie had to deny. Not to mention Tyler and her had kind of broken up over the whole thing.  
  
Not because of Tom, exactly.

The whole reason they broke up was way more complicated than that. It had to do with long distance, busy schedules, and Tyler’s insecurities about her spending so much time with handsome actors. It didn’t matter how many times she told him that she wasn’t interested in dating actors. He just didn’t believe her. The headlines of her leaving him for Tom seemed to be the final straw of an already dead relationship. Billie just became so tired of constantly defending herself that she chose to end it.

It was better for both parties and Billie would like to say that she and Tyler decided to remain friends but that wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, Billie was way more petty and bitter than most celebrities who, by some miracle, could remain friends with their exes. Billie happened to resent both her exes. She couldn’t bury the hatchet and take the high road like a good person.

It was even more annoying because Matty told her that Tyler was convinced that she dumped him for Tom.

Tom! Of all the reasons she wanted to end things, Tyler was convinced that there was nothing wrong with him so the only logical reason for their break-up was because she was fucking her co-star. Ugh! Like she would date an actor and especially Tom at that.

Don’t get her wrong.

There was nothing wrong with Tom. Tom was nice and a bit goofy but he definitely wasn’t for her. In a perfect world where Tom wasn’t an actor, Billie still wouldn’t want anything to do with him. For one, he was way too nice and Billie wasn’t. Billie knew she was high maintenance so she would probably end up ruining him for good with all the problems she had. Tom was too innocent for her and she was too complicated for him. It was quite simple so Billie could end that conversation before it even started.

Still...it was really sweet that he wished her a happy birthday. Billie hadn’t even known that he knew it was her birthday. She then made another look of disgust but it wasn’t for Tom. It was for herself.

Sweet?

She thought he was being sweet? Billie didn’t think men were sweet. She thought they were conniving, irritating, at times stupid, and they even drove Billie mad to a certain point. It was enough to say that Billie had a very complicated relationship with men which probably linked back to her father but she didn’t want to psychoanalyze herself. One of her mom’s exes tried doing that and Billie hated him. That being said, Billie also really loved men despite how some of them got on her nerves. There was a reason most of her friends were men.

Billie found that she also really loved having a boyfriend. Not because having a boyfriend gave her validation but because she liked the flirting, the fighting, and she even enjoyed the sex. Billie had only had sex with two guys, both of whom she was in committed relationships with, but she liked it enough to consider it a highlight. Teddy had been way better at it than Tyler which made sense since he was older. Despite how much of an asshole Teddy was, he had also been really good in getting a girl _there_.

Anyways...Billie had a love/hate relationship with most men. Sebastian was probably the only guy that was exempt from that relationship completely. Even so, Billie didn’t think men were very sweet. Well, she didn’t really see Tom as a man so maybe he could be sweet, after all. He was really just a boy which might’ve been another reason why Billie would never be interested in dating him like the media seemed to think she was.

“Don’t drink anything unless you get the drink yourself,” Sebastian said, repeating the same thing he had been telling her since he met her, really. It seemed like he was adamant in making sure she knew the dangers of being roofied by some random creep. Like she wouldn’t already know that from a billion _Law and Order_ episodes.

“I know, Seb. The only bad thing about music festivals is that instead of regular creeps, there’s creeps high on shrooms,” Billie said, being her usual blunt self. Sebastian just rolled his eyes at her as he looked at her through the rearview mirror.

“Sebastian and I will pick you guys up at one thirty,” Sarah said and Billie nodded. “Then we’ll be heading back to the hotel.”

They made the decision to just stay at a hotel while they were in town for the music festival. The first day of the festival wouldn’t end until late and they were so far from LA that it only made sense.

“Sounds good,” Billie told her mom as she exited out of the Instagram app and checked her email. There was hopefully an email in there from Greta Gerwig, the director of _Lady Bird_ , who ended up casting her in the film much to Billie’s excitement. Anyways...the actress/director was supposed to be emailing her the start date of filming. They had to push it to fall since Billie was going to be tied up with filming the new Spider-Man movie which Billie knew was to be called _Homecoming._

A lot of good things were happening for Billie so maybe she was alright with being single, after all. She was young and she was having fun. Billie supposed she really didn’t need a boyfriend despite how much she secretly craved affection and attention. It was probably better for her right now to be single.

Billie looked up from her phone, after noticing there wasn’t an email from Greta yet, and momentarily smiled when she saw her mom and Sebastian. Her mother’s small hand placed in his larger one, their hands meeting across the console of Sebastian’s really nice and expensive looking car.  

She hadn’t gotten the chance to witness a lot of their relationship after going to Ireland with her grandfather for a month to film a movie. Billie left her mom and Sebastian to their own devices in Texas. It seemed like Sebastian and her mom had gotten even closer during her absence. Billie, even though she was curious about this new kind of relationship between her mom and friend, was glad she left because she thought it was nice for her mom to have alone time with a guy. If she wasn’t worrying about Billie then she was working at the clinic so it was nice that her mom didn’t bury herself under work and overwhelming concern for Billie.

The smile on her mom’s face as she laughed at something silly Sebastian said was curious to Billie. She never remembered her mom looking that happy. Not where a guy was concerned, at least. Her mom certainly never looked like that with her father so maybe this was a good sign, after all.

Billie then decided to give them privacy and returned her gaze to her phone as she scrolled through her email. She didn’t see anything of any importance. Not until she saw an email her publicist sent her. Billie frowned when she opened the document.

The email was clearly addressed to Billie’s mom which meant her publicist Isabel probably accidentally sent it to her by mistake. Billie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion when she saw that Isabel was just forwarding another email to Billie. Billie got sent loads of emails everyday and it was her publicist and assistant’s job to go through them. Mostly it was because of creepy old guys who would send Billie gross and highly inappropriate messages so it was more about safety than anything else.  
  
However, this was different.

Billie’s breathing hitched when she read the first few lines of the email that her publicist sent to her by mistake.

_Sarah,_

_I know you told me to notify you in case we ever heard anything from Billie’s father which is why I’m forwarding this email to you. We did some research and were able to verify that it is indeed from an Ethan Lucas McCallister. I just thought it was appropriate to notify you. Let me know if you have any questions._

_-Isabel_

Billie swallowed hard as she then looked to the link to the email Isabel mentioned in the notification she meant to send to her mother. Her heart was hammering in her chest as her finger hovered over the link. Suddenly her mouth felt very dry. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been expecting this.

Why should she have expected this?

Her father hadn’t reached out to her in his over ten year absence. The last time she saw him he filled her head with false promises and lies before he took off for Florida. Billie had eagerly waited for some kind of phone call or email from him but eventually she got tired of waiting. Her father was like that. He always disappointed you just like how he disappointed her, her mother, her other grandparents, and basically everyone who ever met him.

So why was she suddenly so torn up over this email he apparently tried to send?

Curiosity, probably. He hadn’t said shit to her in over ten years so why was he reaching out to her now of all times? What made him pull his lazy ass off the couch and try to talk to her after all this time? Radio silence for years and now he decided to suddenly contact her.

Billie narrowed her eyes as she stared at the screen.

Fuck it.

Billie deserved some answers. She deserved to see his pathetic attempt of an excuse. He’d probably give her some sob story about why he wasn’t there. That’s what her father was good at, after all. There was always an excuse for everything.

So without another thought she opened the link to her father’s email. Billie took a deep breath before starting to read the mysterious email.

Let’s get this over with.

_Darlin’,_

_I wanted to write you a letter, the old fashioned way, but I don’t know your address so I was told this was the only way to get in contact with you. At least this way you can actually read the letter instead of trying to decipher my messy handwriting. I know that you’re a busy girl these days so hopefully this will save you the time and hassle._

_There’s no proper way to start a letter like this. I’ll just start by saying that I messed up big time and I know that. Believe me when I say that I know that. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past but leaving you might be the biggest one. I did wrong by you. I made you see things that no little girl should see and I’m sorry for that. I know I can’t make up for that._

_When one of friends down here in Tampa mentioned that you were an actress a few years back, I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought, “Not my Billie”. I always thought you were going to be a baseball player but then I saw you on that tv show and those movies. I could hardly believe it. Tomboy Billie in her dirty jeans and t-shirts in those frilly little dresses. I thought I was imagining it._

_Now you’re a big movie star in Hollywood, a little Charlize Theron in the making, doing movies with Robert Downey Jr. and Denzel Washington. I saw you present that award with that Cumberbatch guy at the Oscars last year and I couldn’t believe that the same little girl I played catch with was in a room full of all those famous people. I always tell the guys I work with that Billie Aufderheide is my daughter but none of them believe me. Probably because you don’t use my last name anymore but I’m not judging. I guess I should’ve expected that._

_I probably should’ve done this years ago but I was scared. Scared of what you might think of me. I’ve made a lot of bad choices in my life and you’ve paid the price. I know I haven’t been a good father to you and I’ve been absent a lot. Maybe I was afraid of disappointing you but I truly am sorry, Billie._

_I want to tell you that I’m a different man than who you remember. I served a couple years for fraud but when I was in prison a pastor came down to the prison and brought the word of God with him. I know how cheesy it sounds but he really changed my life. When I got out, I got a whole different perspective on life._

_I’m a changed man, Billie. I’ve gotten remarried to a lovely woman named Tiana and we have three beautiful children together. Zoe, Marcus, and Jonathan who are six, five, and two. Zoe reminds me so much of you, Billie. She’s such a tomboy, always beating up on the boys while practicing her karate moves._

_This is why I would like to see you. I want you to meet your siblings but I also want to make amends. There’s a lot of questions I’m sure you have but I would also like the chance to get to know you better, dear sweet Billie. Please give me a chance._

_Sincerely, Your Father_

Billie hated him.

Her hands almost shook as she held her phone in her hands, her grip maybe a little too tight as she processed all the bullshit she just read. Anyone looking at her wouldn’t be able to read the look on her face. Her face was blank of all emotions as she stared down at her phone coldly, her jaw clenched as she found that she wished that she hadn’t read the stupid email in the first place.

After all this time he wanted to make amends? He ignored her for a whole decade and now he wanted to turn things around when she conveniently had several million in the bank? Him and his picture perfect family he replaced her and her mother with? Billie didn’t buy it. She remembered her father well enough to know that he always had some kind of scheme up his sleeve.

A wife and three poor kids that were stuck with him as a father. Billie knew how much of a curse he was so she at least felt a little bit of a sympathy towards her apparent half-siblings.  
  
Poor bastards.  
  
They were too young to realize how much of a greedy little asshole their father was. They’d find out eventually...just like she did.

Jail time? Billie wasn’t surprised. His lawyer brother in Austin always managed to get him off the petty crime charges that had been filed against him back in Texas but she supposed fraud was too big of a charge for him to talk his way out of.

Billie didn’t buy his little amending act. She didn’t buy that he was now a man of God who wanted to make amends with his daughter now that she was a famous actress with a lot of money. Her father was a hypocrite. He made her and her mother go to church for all those years when in reality he was a master manipulator and the biggest liar she had ever come across in her life. He wasn’t religious then and he definitely wasn’t religious now.

And damn right she didn’t use his name anymore.  
  
She couldn’t believe the way he said it like it was a surprise but he understood why. It should’ve been the most obvious thing in the world. Of course, Billie wouldn’t want to use his last name because she didn't want anything to do with him. He didn’t want anything to do with _her_ so why would she have ever wanted anything to do with _him_?

God, she hated him.  
  
He was a constant embarrassment to her. No matter how much she made a name for herself in Hollywood, how much respect she gained from co-stars and directors alike, dressed in lavish gowns that designers practically designed for her, and all the glamorous photoshoots she did. It didn’t matter because that piece of trailer park trash would always drag her down no matter how far she made it. She would never be rid of him until he died in what Billie hoped was a very painful car accident or maybe getting so shit faced, like in the old days, that he’d choke on his own vomit. People could judge her for wishing her father ill but they don’t know what he did. She didn’t used to be this bitter but he made her this way. Years of feeling worthless and invisible because of his absence did that to her.

He was trash and Billie didn’t want to ever be associated with him again. She would be the happiest person in the world if she never saw that asshole again. He was just scum looking for a handout from her. Like, most men he just wanted her money. He wanted to suck her dry of all her money like some sort of leech.  
  
Billie wasn’t stupid.  
  
She didn’t care about his new family or his new religious ways. He hadn’t cared about her mom and her when he left them.

Well, Billie would extend the same courtesy he extended to her.

She would ignore him for the next decade and pretend he didn’t exist.

Billie would actually happily ignore him for the rest of her life. She hoped she never saw his miserable face again. That would be the best thing he ever did for her if he never showed his face around her again. He, at least, owed her that much.

“Are you okay, Billie?” Sarah asked her daughter, turning around in her seat to look at her. Billie locked the screen of her phone. “You’ve been really quiet.”

“I’m fine. I’m just really excited,” Billie said, giving her mom a convincing fake smile. It was a good thing she was a good actress. Sarah smiled at her and Billie felt relief wash over her. Her mom seemed to buy it.

“Good,” Sarah said, turning back around in her seat. Billie stashed her phone in her purse, trying to put her father’s email to back of her mind. She didn’t want her father to ruin what was supposed to be a happy day for her.

“Hey, speaking of birthday excitement, I heard Chris has a surprise for you next week,” Sebastian said, making Billie curious.

“Surprise?” Billie said, raising an eyebrow. Sebastian shared a secret smile with Sarah before smirking at Billie through the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, a _birthday_ surprise,” Sebastian said smugly and Billie sighed.

“I don’t need anymore birthday presents. Great, this means I’m going to have to buy that old dork something for _his_ birthday,” Billie said as she started to brood about her least favorite hobby which was buying presents for people. It wasn’t that she didn’t like spending money. She just never knew what to buy people. “Maybe I’ll buy him a Seahawks jersey and take comfort in how red with anger his stupid bearded face will get.”

“That’s really kind of you, Billie,” Sarah said sarcastically.

“Well, he’ll bring the present to Downey’s dinner party next week,” Sebastian mentioned and Billie wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Downey’s dinner party? Don’t tell me I have to see Mr. Hollywood so soon. I thought I’d just have to see his ugly mug for two seconds at the premiere,” Billie said, calling Robert the nickname she gave him. Robert didn’t know it but she only called him "Mr. Hollywood" because she thought he had a very Clark Gable air about him. Clark Gable who was commonly referred to as “The King of Hollywood” back in the day. It was actually a compliment but if Downey thought that she was mocking him then so be it.

“Your mom didn’t tell you? He invited all the cast to his house the night before we have to be on Kimmel,” Sebastian informed her and Billie glared at her mom who gave her a sheepish smile.

“No, mom didn’t mention that,” Billie grumbled and Sarah shrugged.

“I was going to wait until after Coachella to tell you,” Sarah told her and Billie sighed tiredly, not looking forward to going to one of Downey’s rich people parties.

Don’t get her wrong.

Billie loved the idea of partying at a music festival like Coachella. What’s not to love? There was amazing live music, overpriced vendor food, underage drinking, and no plumbing. It was an adventure and there was a high chance that Billie would get food poisoning.

However, Downey’s fancy rich people parties with food so extravagant that Billie was afraid to eat it. She had sort of become accustomed to the LA food scene with kale salads and juice stands. She had to because unlike in Texas, where she could eat at Taco Cabana and just sweat it off, Billie actually had to hit the gym to burn off the calories. Especially if the Viper Assassin was going to fly again in the next movie. If Billie didn’t hit the gym then it would definitely be noticeable the next time they tried to squeeze her into her Viper Assassin costume only to discover it didn’t fit her anymore.

It was enough to say that Billie wasn’t actually that enthused for that party.

“Your boyfriend will be there,” Sebastian said teasingly and Billie glared at him. She knew exactly who he was talking about.

Fucking Tom.

Sebastian had given her a ton of shit about those headlines that came out about her and Tom. She knew Downey and Mackie made a couple jokes about it on social media when they congratulated her and Tom on finding love on set. Those two thought they were a couple of comedians, didn’t they? Well, Billie didn’t find them very funny. Sebastian sure as hell wasn’t funny either.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Billie muttered and Sebastian snickered.

“Oh, are you two having another lover’s quarrel?” Sebastian teased, referencing the way Billie and Tom acted like an old married couple. He overheard them bickering on the phone numerous times which he found amusing.

“Holland, what the hell have you gotten into your head this time? You’re such a dumb ass sometimes, you know that?” Sebastian said, mimicking Billie and Sarah’s East Texan drawl. Billie continued to glare at her mom’s boyfriend. Maybe she was starting to regret giving him permission to date her mom. Maybe it was a mistake.

“I don’t sound like that,” Billie said under her breath but Sebastian then switched over to an English accent, ignoring the teenage actress.

“Billie, please don’t be mad at me. I didn’t mean it, love. I’ll do anything to make it up to you,” Sebastian said, feigning a pout and Billie huffed angrily.

“That’s not what he said!” Billie argued, looking distinctly pissed off that Sebastian had apparently been eavesdropping on her phone calls with Tom. Those were private. Billie didn’t eavesdrop on his conversations with _his_ friends. Sebastian and her mom both laughed at her.

Great...they were ganging up on her now.

“Billie, calm down,” Sarah told her, calming down a bit from her laughter. “Sebastian’s just teasing you. We all know that you and Tom are just friends. I’d still like to meet him though...as your friend, of course.”

“Well, you’ll be very disappointed. He’s boring...just like you two,” Billie said, crossing her arms and brooding as she glared outside the car window.

“Just promise me that you’ll have fun at Robert’s party,” Sarah finally said although she and Sebastian still looked highly amused by Billie’s brooding nature. “That you’ll be social and more importantly that you won’t be a grumpy little gator.”

“Yeah, no one likes a grumpy little gator, Billie,” Sebastian said as he smirked at her through the rearview mirror and Billie resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him. She was supposed to be an adult now so she didn’t think that would be very dignified of her.

“You know, there used to be a day where I wanted you to finally grow a pair and ask mom out but now not so much,” Billie said bitterly but Sebastian just chuckled. He was more than used to Billie’s behavior to be offended by anything she said.

“I love you too, Bills,” Sebastian said and Billie scoffed. “You should wake your friend up. We’re almost at the festival.”

Billie nodded, still looking annoyed with her mom and Sebastian, as she gently woke Nellie up from her power nap. She was always amazed at how hard of a sleeper Nellie was. It was a miracle she hadn’t woken up from all the bickering. The brunette slowly lifted her head up from the window and blinked tiredly, looking around the car in a dazed state.

“Coachella?” Nellie managed to say. Billie smiled because “Coachella” seemed like the only word Nellie had been able to utter for the past couple hours. The teenage girl was giddy during breakfast back at the house and nearly skipped to Sebastian’s car the second she was finished with her fruit and oatmeal. Billie had to admit she was excited too.

More importantly, Billie was excited to try to put this business with her father behind her and have fun at the festival. This was her eighteenth birthday and Billie was determined to have fun despite all the other shit that was going on in her life. So she nodded at her sleepy looking friend and confirmed what they already both knew.

“Coachella.”

* * *

Billie and Nellie navigated their way through the crowds of people at the festival. They had been at the festival for a few hours at this point. They had already watched The 1975 and Banks perform. Billie and Nellie had a blast at both performances while watching from the side of the stage so Billie would have more privacy. Watching from the side of the stage was probably the one thing Billie took advantage of her fame for. She usually tried not using it to get things but going to concerts was her one favorite thing so she would be “that” celebrity for the time-being.

It was really hot at the festival but not Texas hot so Billie was more than fine although Nellie begged to differ.

The two had grouped up with some of Nellie’s friends from the second they set foot at the festival. The group got bigger when friends of friends became involved. A friend of one of Nellie’s friends was apparently friends with Bella Hadid and another friend of Nellie’s was apparently very friendly with Sophie Turner so a couple more “famous” people got added to their group. It definitely made navigating through the backstage area of the festival a little easier.

Billie wasn’t very acquainted with Bella Hadid so they exchanged a greeting with Bella telling Billie how much she loved the dress Billie wore to the Emmys and Billie raving about Bella’s appearance at last year’s New York fashion week which Billie attended. They talked for a couple minutes about fashion before they went back to their respective friends. It’s not like Billie had anything against models. She was technically a model herself now, a muse for Miu Miu and having appeared in numerous ad campaigns of theirs, and Billie was quite up to date on models and designers. Anything to do with fashion, really.

“Billie, it’s been a while,” Sophie Turner greeted as she smiled politely at Billie. Billie returned the smile.

“Hell of a place to get reacquainted, right?” Billie said and Sophie laughed but nodded. Billie didn’t know Sophie that well. They just saw each other and occasionally chatted at award shows with Billie starring on _Mad Men_ and Sophie starring on _Game of Thrones_. They also bonded over having been constantly mistaken for each other.

Billie kind of understood why seeing as they were both around the same age, the same height, and were both natural blondes. All it took was for one of them to open their mouths and speak before people realized they had the wrong actress. Sophie also happened to have auditioned for the Viper Assassin years ago and lost out to Billie.  
  
There was no animosity though.  
  
Sophie had nabbed the role of Jean Grey in the new X-Men movie so all was good.

Billie wouldn’t say that they were friends or anything like that but they were more like friendly acquaintances. All those award shows could be pretty boring without someone to chat with. If not for Sophie or Holly Taylor from _The Americans_ , Billie would be stuck listening to adults talk all night. Which was fine. Billie got along better with adults better anyways...except when they chatted about their kids and Billie could no longer relate. Even if Billie didn’t make friends for life, it was nice talking to someone other than Jon who was stuck talking about that time he got shit faced in ‘92, well before Billie was even thought of, or January seeking advice from Billie’s mom about what to do about disciplining your kids in a modern way.  
  
Child actors tended to be more mature anyways so Sophie and Holly were nice to talk to.

“It’s a lot more crowded here than it was last year. I’m only sad that I still can’t drink,” Sophie told her and Billie laughed.

“I imagine it’s worse for you since you’re British,” Billie said before smirking at the English actress. “Don’t worry. You just can’t drink _legally_. Drinking illegally is half the fun.”

“You’re a terrible influence,” Sophie said, looking thoroughly by the slightly younger actress. She then gave Billie a small smile. “Happy Birthday by the way. I saw Tom’s post on Instagram this morning.”

“Thanks. Eighteen is probably a bigger deal in England so I’m waiting until the big one in three years,” Billie said before giving her an odd look. “You know Holland? Huh...I guess that thing they say about British people is true. You really do all hang out together in pubs.”

“No, not at all,” Sophie told her as she laughed once more at Billie. “He’s just a friend of a friend. I’ve met him quite a bit at several events over the past couple years. He’s a sweet guy who happens to have a high opinion of you though. I saw him a couple weeks ago back in London at a party. He couldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Really?” Billie questioned, not knowing if she really believed that. He probably told everyone what a sociopath she was...or “nutter” as he put it. He was always telling her how crazy she was. Sophie nodded before mimicking Tom and making Billie laugh at her.

“You should see the way Billie works! She’s so talented and it’s just such a privilege to work with her. Have you seen her work on _Mad Men_? She’s so brilliant!” Sophie said, making her voice higher while she did a shockingly good impression of Tom, before she rolled her eyes playfully at Billie. “He bragged about working with you for the longest time. He actually made me a little jealous since we’ve never worked together before.”

“He’s a great actor too,” Billie said even though it was difficult for her to compliment people. Well, not so much difficult but Billie was just bad at it. She’d make a compliment and then it would come off as an insult.

“So nice too,” Sophie said once more and Billie nodded but before she could say anything, Nellie came racing over to them with an excited look on her face. Billie and Sophie looked at the short brunette in amusement. She panting from all the running and her eyes were wide with surprise.

“Guys, you’ll never guess who I just saw when I went to the Honey Bucket!” Nellie said excitedly and she continued when Billie and Sophie just stared at her.  
  
“Fucking Leonardo DiCaprio and Rihanna!”

Billie raised an eyebrow.

“Leonardo DiCaprio and Rihanna were in the line to use a porta potty?” Billie asked doubtfully at the news, not looking to care in the least bit that DiCaprio and Rihanna were there, while Sophie’s mouth just hung open in surprise. “Wow...they’re way more practical than I thought they’d be.”

Nellie furiously shook her head.

“Of course, they weren’t in line for the porta potty, Billie. They’re too classy for that,” Nellie told her as if Billie was being completely stupid by suggesting such a thing. “I saw them from afar while they were walking the grounds. Rihanna had, like, five bodyguards with her. They were all really hot too. Maybe you guys should get a couple hot bodyguards like Rihanna.”

“DiCaprio must be really secure in his masculinity for him to be totally cool with Rihanna having really hot bodyguards with her at all times,” Billie mused aloud.

“I just can’t believe Leo and Rihanna are here _together_ ,” Sophie said in amazement. Nellie frowned at Billie.

“Why would those bodyguards be a threat to Leo?” Nellie questioned. “He’s Leonardo fucking DiCaprio.”

Billie and Sophie exchanged a knowing look before looking back at Nellie.

“Yeah, but _she’s_ Rihanna,” Billie pointed out to Nellie and Sophie nodded in agreement. There seemed to be some kind of unspoken agreement between everyone when it came to Rihanna. Billie might not have been the normalest of teenage girls but there were still some very teenage aspects about her. Rihanna included.  
  
“DiCaprio is basically Schmidt from _New Girl_ and Rihanna’s Cece.”

“Leo is Leo but Rihanna is _Rihanna_ ,” Sophie told Nellie seriously. To any onlookers it would’ve looked like the three young women were having an intense discussion about social or political issues but in reality it was actually quite sad.

“I guess that makes sense now that I think about it,” Nellie said and all three of them ended up laughing at their own stupidity. Were they really just debating Leonardo DiCaprio and Rihanna’s relationship? This was really just depressing.

“Hey, we were going to watch Father John Misty perform, do you want to join us?” Billie asked Sophie politely, knowing that it was about time for Nellie and her to head down to the other stage before the concert started. Sophie smiled and nodded.

“Why not. I love Father John Misty,” Sophie said and Billie nodded, looking happy just to find another Father John Misty fan. Sometimes it seemed like she and Nellie were his only fans. Tom sure as hell had no idea who Father John Misty was which made him lame in her books. “He’s quite a bit like a hippie though, isn’t he?”

“Don’t get me started on that. His summer of love vibes are what I love most about him,” Nellie said happily and Billie nodded in agreement. The three girls then started walking down to the stage where the Father John Misty concert would be held. They spent the whole walk discussing Father John Misty’s music passionately but Billie couldn’t stop thinking about Tom’s praise.

Had Tom really talked about her like that like Sophie said?

The very thought of Tom praising her acting ability caused a rare blush to appear on Billie’s face and slight fluttering in her stomach.

Billie decided to blame it on the warm weather this time.

 

* * *

After Father John Misty and Lana Del Rey’s performances, which were amazing as usual by the way, ended way earlier than they originally thought, Billie and Nellie found that they still had around an hour and a half before Billie’s mom and Sebastian were due to pick them up. Billie probably could’ve called Sebastian and her mom early to pick them up but she didn’t want the night to end yet. It was still her eighteenth birthday and the night was still young...ish. Billie was still very alert, only slightly buzzed from a couple Jell-O shots that one of Nellie's friends supplied them with, so she was ready to see what else the festival had to offer.

“It’s fucking cold. I wish I brought a jacket with me or something,” Nellie complained and Billie giggled uncharacteristically, an obvious sign of her tipsiness.

“Me too,” Billie told her. “You know, for being in a desert it’s a lot colder than I thought it would be.”

“Lana was so fucking pretty tonight!” Nellie practically sang, a little tipsy herself. “It was completely worth it. I’m officially in love with her.”

“I’ve always been in love with her so fuck you,” Billie told her as they followed the music to find the after-party they were looking for. It was a bit of a long walk but they didn't care. “Her performance of ‘Gods and Monsters’ was so bad ass. I keep replaying it in my mind.”

“In the land of Gods and Monsters I was an angel,” Nellie began to sing horribly before Billie joined in with her. Billie singing was a rare sight so maybe she was a little more than tipsy. Billie thought she was an okay singer but drunk she was probably terrible. “Looking to get fucked hard!”

They got a couple whoops from some guys but Billie and Nellie just continued to sing without paying any mind to the weird looks people were giving them all the while missing a lot of the lyrics. It was saying a lot that Billie was forgetting lyrics from a Lana Del Rey song.  
  
She never forgot the lyrics.

“No one’s gonna take my soul away, livin’ like Jim Morrison!” Billie and Nellie sang horribly. “Headed towards a fucked up holiday. Motels, sprees, sprees, and I’m singing...fuck yeah, give it to me, this is heaven, what I truly want.”

“It’s innocence lost! It’s innocence lost!” They yelled before breaking into laughter. Billie and Nellie finally approached the line to the after-party. They could see the bright lights from the Ferris wheel gleaming ahead somewhere behind the gate as well as hearing the loud laughter and music in the distance.

The Neon Carnival.

It was an exclusive invite-only party which mainly had the A-lister attendees of the festival. Billie imagined Sophie, who they separated from some time ago, was in there with Bella, Bella’s sister, DiCaprio, Rihanna, and even Taylor Swift who Billie heard was at the festival supporting her boyfriend. Normally Billie hated these kinds of celebrity infested parties but she felt like doing something different for her birthday. Billie hadn’t received an invite because she didn’t make it known she would be attending the festival.

The party also has bumper carts so that was a huge plus.

“How are we getting into this? It’s invite-only,” Nellie said and Billie gave her a smug looking smirk.

“I’m basically an Avenger. I have the highest national security level clearance ever,” Billie said as if this answered Nellie’s question.

Okay…so maybe Billie had more than a couple Jell-O shots.

“Okay,” Nellie said as if that were a perfectly acceptable answer.

They both approached the bouncer at the front of the gate. The burly looking man shot the two girls suspicious looks. There wouldn’t be a problem in Billie or Nellie getting into the party since it was eighteen and up. It’s not like it was a club or anything. However, it was strictly a-list only so the bouncer was trying to decide whether or not they were famous looking.

“We want to ride some bumper carts,” Billie said simply as she stared at the man and struggled to not look drunk. Her not drunk look just consisted of her eyes being kept painfully wide open as she stared at the bouncer in a creepy fashion.

“Do you have an invite?” He asked her and Billie huffed as if she were offended he’d ask her such a thing. Nellie scoffed, equally as drunk as Billie.

“Excuse you, sir, but do you know who you’re talking to?” Nellie said to the bouncer who only raised an eyebrow.

“No. I don’t believe I do,” He said in an unamused voice. Billie flipped her hair to the side but she stumbled a bit as she did so, not as graceful as usual.

“This is the fucking Viper Assassin! She’s a fucking Avenger for your information,” Nellie said seriously as she crossed her arms, trying desperately not to stumble while she did so. “She’s also Captain America’s granddaughter and the Winter Soldier’s adopted daughter. She’s a bonafide badass and she’s had lots of hot sex with Loki and Spider-Man in the comics. So there…”

“What she said,” Billie said as she held onto her best friend and tried harder not to look drunk but the bouncer probably knew they were shit faced at this point.

“Billie, is that you?” Billie heard a voice say in the distance. It was then that a familiar face popped up beside the bouncer as she stepped out from the crowd behind the gate and looked at Billie in surprise. The tall actress/singer looked genuinely surprised to see Billie there, having only seen her a couple weeks before in Atlanta.

“Hey, Zendaya,” Billie said casually like she wasn’t being weird for grabbing onto her best friend for safety...or rather just so she wouldn’t fall on her face. She was honestly kind of relieved to see another familiar face. Billie hit it off really well with the Disney Channel actress which was probably why Zendaya scored the part of Michelle in the upcoming Spider-Man movie. They had a chemistry test much like the one Billie did with Sebastian years ago. It worked out really well in the end and Billie was happy. Zendaya seemed like a really cool person with similar views Billie had on certain issues in today’s society.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming to Coachella,” Zendaya said in surprise and Billie shrugged.

“You didn’t tell me _you_ were coming to Coachella,” Billie retorted, not being able to come up with a better response. She was too drunk at this point.

“Do you know this girl, Miss Coleman?” The bouncer questioned and Zendaya looked at him in surprise.

“You don’t know who that is?” Zendaya questioned as she looked between a wasted looking Billie and the stern looking bouncer. The burly man shook his head and Zendaya felt the need to explain. “She’s Billie Aufderheide. You know, _Avengers_ , _Mad Men_ , _Zombieland_...she did a movie with Denzel. She’s a pretty big deal.”

“But does she have an invite?” The bouncer questioned stubbornly and Billie rolled her eyes before waving her hand dismissively.

“Invites perpetuate exclusivity and exclusivity is for boring people like Leonardo DiCaprio and that Jenner what’s-her-name girl,” Billie said as serious as possible. Nellie nodded in agreement while Zendaya just looked amused.

“Yeah, Billie’s way cooler than DiCrapio and Kylie-no, Kendall-wait, Kylie,” Nellie said but she got confused in her drunken stupor. “I always get those two confused.”

“They’re with me,” Zendaya finally told the man and the man sighed heavily, looking between the two semi-drunk looking girls, as he nodded and then stepped aside to let them through. Billie and Nellie both giggled excitedly(and drunkenly) as they passed him and joined Zendaya on the other side of the gate which led to the large outdoor party.  
  
Actually, Neon Carnival was like a festival all on it’s own.

Billie and Nellie looked around in awe at all the hot and sweaty bodies of people who grinded on each other to EDM. This was perhaps the first _real_ party they had ever been to. One that wasn’t a high school party that had a bunch of awkward teenagers standing around drinking beer and passing a joint around. This was a real adult party with actual adults who got drunk the legal way although California’s Marijuana laws still hadn’t passed.

However, that didn’t stop people from smoking weed anyways. Billie got a glimpse of Snoop Dogg as she, Nellie, and Zendaya navigated through the swarm of people so there must’ve been weed somewhere. That and Billie smelled weed ever since the first moment she arrived at the festival. It was hard to get that smell out of your nose although Billie thought she was semi used to it by now with being at the festival all day and night.

“I’m Zendaya by the way,” Zendaya told Nellie as if the brunette didn’t know who she was. Nellie smiled at her.

“Eleanor but you can just call me Nellie,” Nellie said back and Zendaya returned her smile. They continued walking through the crowds of people.  
  
Billie was really just here for the bumper carts. The last time she had driven one was back at the county fair when she was twelve. Maybe they had a batting cage too since they seemed to have a lot of amusement park rides and games at the carnival. Billie really hoped so.

"I only got here a few hours ago for SZA’s performance. My friends and I are renting a place out in Palm Springs for the weekend,” Zendaya told both Billie and Nellie but the two younger girls were barely paying attention. They got distracted by Michael B. Jordan on the dancefloor where a girl was basically grinding her ass against his crotch.

Billie didn’t think she had ever seen a more beautiful man in her entire life. Looking at Michael was like love at first sight. She didn’t seem to be alone either because Nellie looked like she was in love too. Billie found it challenging to pay attention to Zendaya at that point because Michael was distracting. Billie was probably invisible to him. When she was sober she’d probably be able to play it cool and go up to him, not looking like she gave a fuck who he was, but drunk Billie was sillier so she didn’t think she was going to do that. She’d probably make herself look like an idiot.

“Hey, what are you two looking at-oh..." Zendaya said as she finally followed their gaze. She couldn’t help but stare either because Michael B. Jordan had to be the hottest guy at Coachella right now. That was saying a lot too because Billie had seen Jared Leto and Scott Eastwood strolling around the festival earlier but Michael definitely took the top prize.

“Is it setting feminism decades back if I wished that I was that girl?” Billie questioned seriously as all three of them clocked Michael B. Jordan at the same time.

“Is it demeaning to want to be that girl?” Nellie asked after she and Zendaya, who was only mildly tipsy unlike Billie and Nellie, shook her head.

“If you look at it this way then it’s actually a feminist statement to want to be that girl because it’s us taking control over our own sexuality,” Zendaya rationalized. Billie might’ve argued against that when she was sober but drunk Billie had a hard time finding anything wrong with wishing she was in that girl’s place.

“That’s makes sense,” Billie said and Nellie nodded in agreement.

“We should stop staring before he calls security on us,” Zendaya, the only mildly sober person, said. She nodded for them to get a move on and both Billie and Nellie reluctantly followed her despite casting a long glance at Michael from over their shoulders.

“Happy Birthday by the way, Billie,” Zendaya told the blonde actress who nodded at her before going to back to observing the large exclusive party. “Tom’s post on Instagram was cute.”

“ _He’s_ cute,” Billie shot back as if she were responding to an insult and not a statement. Zendaya gave Billie another amused look because she was _really_ drunk. It was kind of odd to see the normally very serious and cynical blonde in a drunk state. Drunk Billie seemed to be a lot more loose and fun.

“Okay then,” Zendaya said as she lead them back to where her group of friends were lounging around. There was a table area with a long sofa positioned behind it where a group of late teens to twenty something-year-olds were hanging out. Billie might’ve been able to pick out all the different celebrities if she wasn’t so inebriated.

“These are my friends. Micah, Alyssa, Bella, and Charlie,” Zendaya said as she introduced Billie and Nellie to her friends. The three of them took a seat at the end of couch with Billie sitting next to a familiar but cute looking guy, Nellie in the middle, and Zendaya at the end. “Guys, this is Billie and Nellie. Billie and I are going to be working together soon but remember all that Marvel stuff is still hush hush.”

All of them nodded in greeting and Billie and Nellie smiled back at them. Now that Billie was sitting a bit closer to them, she recognized a couple of them. The girl sitting next to the one whose name was Charlie was Bella Thorne. Billie knew that she starred on that Disney Channel show with Zendaya for a time. She had to admit she wasn’t completely familiar with Zendaya’s work since Billie stopped watching Disney Channel right before Zendaya started doing that show. Billie’s memory of Disney shows included _The Suite Life of Zack and Cody_ , _Hannah Montana_ , and _Wizards of Waverly Place_.

There was a time when Billie’s dream was to land her own Disney Channel show.  
  
She knew that she sounded out of character but Billie used to be a little eight-year-old girl who wanted to be just like Miley Cyrus. Of course, this was a time when a kid wanting to be like Miley Cyrus didn’t automatically give their parents a heart attack. However, Billie’s auditions went less than well. They didn’t think she had the charisma and cheeriness that most Disney kids had. The only part Billie could manage to get was as Sally Draper on _Mad Men._ At the time it was kind of boring since none of Billie’s friends watched _Mad Men_. Back then _Mad Men_ was just a boring adult show.

In a way, Billie was glad she never became a Disney Channel star. She cringed at the thought of being tethered to a kid show until she was in her twenties. Billie didn’t mean any offense to Zendaya but Billie just couldn’t picture herself being on one of those shows at the age she was now. There was also the fact of being typecast in those kid roles and not being able to escape Disney Channel’s hold. Zendaya seemed to be doing just fine but Billie liked her career the way it was. She got to play young female characters but at the same time the roles were very mature.

Well, Billie was technically working for Disney, after all, since Marvel Studios was owned by the company. So maybe her childhood dream had come true but just in a larger way than she had ever imagined.

“So you guys really can’t talk about what’s going to happen in the new Captain America movie?” The guy next to Billie asked. She glanced at him and recognized him as that singer who did the song for the last _Fast and Furious_ movie.  
  
The super sad song about Paul Walker.  
  
Charlie something but Billie couldn’t remember his last name for the life of her. While Billie had a basic knowledge of pop music, she was more up to date on new indie music than she was with new pop music.

“Billie’s the only one who knows what’s happening in _Civil War_. I’m not in that one,” Zendaya told Charlie and everyone looked at Billie but she didn’t seem bothered by the attention. Nellie scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Good luck getting anything out of her,” Nellie said, looking quite bitter. “I’m her best friend and she won’t even tell me anything.”

“I like my job,” Billie said simply and everyone laughed at that.

“So you can’t say anything? Not even a little hint?” Charlie asked her and Billie got a good look at him as he gave her a teasing smile. Billie noticed that he was actually really cute. Not that she had a thing for pop stars or anything. Billie always thought she would end up falling in love with a really cool Rockstar and they would have a tumultuous relationship like Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson.  
  
Rock stars were cooler anyways.

Still...Billie wasn’t blind by any means. Charlie had a really nice smile that Billie wasn’t immune to. His brunette locks were in soft messy waves and his eyes were a gorgeous hazel color. His single most distinct feature was a scar where his right eyebrow was. Billie didn’t know why that was so adorable to her. There was also the fact that he looked older. Billie wasn’t sure how much older he was than her but Billie always liked older guys. It’s what drew her to Teddy initially and what made her quickly annoyed by Tyler.

God...look what booze did to her.  
  
Billie was checking out some girl’s boyfriend while said girl was sitting right there. Billie was also having more girly thoughts than usual. She seldom checked guys out like that but several Jell-O shots in and she was lusting after Michael B. Jordan and ‘See You Again’ Charlie.

Jell-O shots turned Billie into some kind of man-stealing hussy.

Hussy? Great, Billie was turning into her grandma. Not the German one but her father’s bible thumping mom who made quilts and told Billie that she dressed like a slut.

_You’re dressed like a slut, Billie, just like your mother._

Grandma Charlotte was a stuffy old woman who acted quite snobbish for someone who was basically trailer park trash. Billie’s mom used to make her spend a couple weeks in the summer with her father’s parents. Her mom said it was because she deserved the chance to get to know her grandparents but Billie stopped going when she was sixteen. Her mom said she was old enough to make her own decisions and Billie made the choice to stay away from that side of the family. They were all a bunch of loons and not in a funny way.

What would Grandma Charlotte say about Billie having a bunch of Jell-O shots and lusting after Charlie and Michael B. Jordan? Probably nothing nice.

“I’m in it. That’s something,” Billie finally said, knowing it would be really weird and creepy if she just stared at him without saying anything.

“Well, this is all nice and fun but I’d definitely be having a lot more fun if there was some more drinks at our table,” Bella said loudly. Normally there would probably be little to no chance of a bunch of underage people getting drinks. Billie actually thought the only person of age at their table was probably Charlie. That being said, this party clearly didn’t abide by the law since people were smoking pot all over the place and she was sure there was LSD or shrooms too because this was Coachella, after all.

“Agreed,” Zendaya said and everyone else nodded amongst each other. The right thing to do in this scenario was to probably stop drinking. Yeah, Billie was going to stop her drinking at this point. She was really tipsy and drinking anymore alcohol probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

“Let’s get some Jell-O shots over here!” Bella exclaimed excitedly.

Well, a couple more Jell-O shots probably wouldn’t hurt.

Ooh...hopefully there was some more lime flavored ones. Billie really liked lime.

Yeah, Billie couldn’t stay away from Jell-O shots.  
 

* * *

“I can’t believe you’re able to hit the ball like that after you almost fell on your face ten minutes ago,” Charlie said in amazement as he watched Billie in one of the batting cages at the carnival party. She held the bat firmly in her hands as she hit the ball time and time again. It was just like when she was a little girl. Except Billie was wearing a dress that looked like a long shirt paired with cowboy boots. Pretty different from the grass stained jeans and dirty sneakers she used to wear when she was seven.

“I used to play a bit of baseball when I was little. I guess it’s like riding a bike,” Billie told him nonchalantly. “Although they really shouldn’t let drunk people have baseball bats at a big party like this. It’s basically asking for trouble.”

“Probably,” Charlie agreed as he continued to watch her. Billie and Charlie were left to their own devices when the others decided to go dancing with all the other horny idiots who were grinding against each other. Billie and Charlie seemed to have, at least, something in common. Billie hated dancing with an utmost passion while she thought Charlie was just kind of awkward.

“You know, I heard some stories about you,” Charlie said with a small smirk on his face. Billie lowered her bat and looked at him. For a minute she thought he was talking about the headlines about her and Tom. Billie was about to tell him to fuck off when he surprised her. “I’m friends with Adam.”

At Billie’s confusion, he elaborated a little more.

“Levine. Adam Levine,” Charlie told her and a suspicious look crossed Billie’s face. She hadn’t seen Adam in years but she knew John Carney was trying to get him to do another song for their new movie.

“Really?” Billie questioned and Charlie just nodded as he leaned against the doorway, looking highly amused by her.

“He mentioned that you tripped him at a press junket once...on purpose,” Charlie said and Billie nodded slowly, not looking particularly bothered by this.

“And did Sexiest Man Alive 2013 happen to mention _why_ I tripped him?” Billie asked him and Charlie shook his head. Billie smirked back at him. “So he didn’t happen to mention he was staring at my mom’s ass for an ungodly amount of time?”

Charlie gave her a surprised look.

“Your mom?” Charlie questioned and Billie nodded.

“Yeah, he was checking her out. It was disgusting,” Billie said before giving Charlie a look of disbelief but Billie’s disbelief wasn’t directed at him. “I can’t believe he goes around telling people that I tripped him but he somehow doesn’t mention _why_ I tripped him.”

“There didn’t seem to be any hard feelings by the way. Adam thought it was funny,” Charlie told Billie as though Billie actually cared whether or not she pissed Adam Levine off. She really didn’t care. The asshole deserved it.

“I thought it was funny too. The sexiest man alive face down on the floor,” Billie said with a straight face and Charlie chuckled.

“I hope you don’t go around attacking pop singers,” Charlie said jokingly but Billie could detect a flirtatious undertone in his remark. His hazel eyes sparkled with mischief and Billie felt a bit more confident than before. Well, now she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt an attraction.  
  
Billie wasn’t stupid.   
  
She knew when a guy was flirting with her.

Billie even knew when Tom flirted with her but that was different. That didn’t mean anything...or it _couldn’t_ mean anything, at least.

“Only ones who piss me off,” Billie flirted back.

Yeah, she was on her way to getting _very_ drunk if she was forgetting the fact this guy had a girlfriend. Not just any girlfriend either. His girlfriend who happened to be Zendaya’s best friend. Zendaya who was Billie’s new co-star as well as Billie’s friendly acquaintance.

“I’ll try not piss you off too much,” Charlie said with a playful grin on his face. Billie gave him an amused look before she turned around to hit another ball with her bat. Just when she was about to call for the attendee to turn the machine, shooting the baseballs out, back on, something Charlie said stopped her in her tracks.

“Who taught you how to play baseball anyways?” Charlie asked her and Billie suddenly remembered the email her father sent.  
  
The memory of his apology and begging to get back in her good graces, filled Billie with feelings of hurt and anger that she wanted to avoid. These were the feelings she had been trying to forget the whole night but somehow she kept getting reminded of it. It was both frustrating and infuriating to her.

“It’s just something I picked up on while growing up,” Billie lied and Charlie nodded, fully believing the blonde actress.

Her confidence had taken a severe hit after the reminder of her father. Tonight was supposed to be _her_ night but her father seemed adamant about ruining it with all his mind games. She couldn’t even spend an entire night without thinking of that fucking email and his new perfect family.

It just irked her how he pretended she didn’t exist for most of her life and now that she suddenly had money and fame, he wanted to be her father again.

The nerve of that fucking asshole.

Billie then started wondering what he’d do if she never responded to his email. Would he keep pestering her or would he give up? Billie feared that he’d make some kind of public statement and humiliate her. She didn’t want anyone knowing that she was related to that piece of garbage.

All Billie wanted to do was forget that he had ever been a part of her life.

“Well, it seems to have paid off,” Charlie told Billie, breaking the blonde out of her thoughts about her good for nothing father.

“Yeah, I guess,” Billie said quietly, the mood soured from the memory of her father. She was sure Charlie didn’t know that though. Although, he seemed to sense that something was different than before. The flirtatiousness Billie previously encompassed seemed to have disappeared in an instant. A more lost and serious expression had come across her face.  

In other words Billie had sobered up in an instant.

“I should see if Bella’s ready to head back to the hotel yet,” Charlie said, remembering that he, in fact, had a girlfriend. Something both Billie and him forgot as they became lost in flirting with each other. Billie didn’t need to be flirting with the boyfriend of her new co-star’s best friend anyways. She didn’t steal boyfriends because she more than capable of getting her own.

Charlie also didn’t want to flirt with a girl who was only barely eighteen. She was even slightly younger than Bella and all his friends complained about _her_ being too young for him. He couldn’t imagine what they’d say if they learned that he had been flirting with a girl that was probably still in high school. Billie Aufderheide might’ve been ridiculously famous but she was still very young. Charlie was twenty four but even if six years didn’t seem like it was that much...it was a lot when you were twenty four and she was eighteen.

The rising pop star also happened to have a girlfriend which he kept forgetting about a lot when he was around long blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, and a surprisingly sexy southern drawl.

Girlfriend, right.

Her name is Bella, she’s ridiculously hot, and things have been really going good with her...for the most part.

Bella was, at times, a little immature for Charlie which wasn’t surprising because she was probably the same age as Billie. However, even though he didn’t really know Billie, he could also tell she was a lot more chill than Bella. Not preferring to dance and party with her friends but just to quietly hang out and talk. He had a hard time remembering that she was only eighteen which was even more difficult for Charlie considering he was undeniably attracted to the blonde.

If he wasn’t mistaken then she might’ve reciprocated those feelings of attraction. The blonde was surprisingly flirtatious for someone so young but Charlie wasn’t complaining.

Although Charlie needed to remind himself again that he wasn’t single. Billie just seemed to make that overwhelmingly difficult.

“Yeah, it was nice meeting you,” Billie said politely despite the now bad mood she was in. Charlie smiled at her.

“You too,” Charlie said, giving her a small smile, his hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. Billie managed to smile in return. “I guess I’ll see you around, Billie.”

Billie nodded but she didn’t say anything and he gave her one last smile before walking away. Probably back to finding his girlfriend.  
  
Billie had to remind herself of that.

Girlfriend.

He has a girlfriend and she wasn’t slutty enough to steal someone’s boyfriend. Flirting was fine because it didn’t have to mean anything. Flirting was just flirting.

However, flirting with some girl’s boyfriend was the least of her problems.

The issue of her father was what really had her worried. Not to mention the fact that she felt more sober than she had felt a few minutes ago.

Billie spotted a girl carrying a tray of lime flavored Jell-O shots and she felt her feet moving towards the girl before the thought even occurred to her.

She really needed another Jell-O shot.

Or several.

* * *

It was enough to say that Billie got shit faced after that. A Jell-O shot for every time her dad had disappointed her.  
  
Billie didn't need long to get shit faced.  
  
“God, Billie, how much did you drink?” Nellie complained as she tried to help her friend stand up straight. Billie had been a little more than tipsy before but she hadn’t been this bad. Nellie left her alone for under an hour and this was what happened. 

“I didn’t drink nothin’,” Billie said, her Texan drawl more distinct than ever. “Those Jell-O shots were really yummy. Maybe I could have some more? Let’s go back.”

“We’re not going back to that party. You’re drunk off your ass,” Nellie said as she tried to tighten her grip on Billie. They had just left the Neon Carnival and were heading back to the front of the now empty festival where Sebastian and Sarah were supposed to be waiting for them. 

“I’m not drunk. _You’re_ drunk,” Billie said before erupting into giggles. Nellie just stared at her best friend like she had never seen her before.

“I can’t believe this. Your mom and Sebastian are going to kill me,” Nellie complained, now being completely sobered up from having to deal with her very drunk friend. “We should’ve never have gone to that fucking party. Now we’re both going to pay for it.”

“Well, I had fun,” Billie said and Nellie snorted.

“Yeah, you sure did. You were all over Bella’s boyfriend by the way. You’re lucky neither she or Zendaya noticed,” Nellie told her and Billie groaned, sounding more like a little kid than a now eighteen-year-old young woman. 

“I’m sorry, Nellie, but I’m haven’t had sex in forever,” Billie whined and Nellie looked around to try and make sure no one heard her because Billie was speaking really loud. “It’s been like...two months and that hasn’t even been like two months since really good sex. It’s been over a year since really good sex.”

“Billie, calm down,” Nellie tried to tell her as she kept finding herself in disbelief over how drunk Billie was. 

“No one wants to have sex with me, Nellie,” Billie almost cried and Nellie never felt more scared in her life. This was completely out of character for the blonde actress and Nellie knew there was probably no way in making her not seem drunk to Sarah and Sebastian.  
  
They were totally fucked. 

“I’ll do it!” Some drunk stoner yelled out and Nellie immediately flipped him off before they continued on their way. 

“I’m super horny, Nellie,” Billie told her and Nellie tried to get her to hush but Billie was unrelenting.

“Stop talking like that. You’re totally going to get in trouble with your mom and Sebastian,” Nellie tried to tell her but she should’ve known it was useless. Billie didn’t seem to have any shame.

“At least someone’s getting it,” Billie mumbled and Nellie just sighed heavily.

“Loads of guys want to have sex with you, Billie,” Nellie tried to tell her but Billie shook her head furiously. “You’re hot. You know that too.”

“Yeah, but they don’t _really_ want to have sex with me. Not the real me,” Billie told her and Nellie realized that she was never going to be able to talk any sense into her at this point. She was completely hammered.

“That British guy sounds like he wants to have sex with you. That’s something, right?” Nellie tried to say helpfully. “I wish a British guy wanted to go all Downton Abbey on me.”

“What British guy? Benadryl Cumbersnatch?” Billie practically slurred and Nellie wrinkled her nose in disgust. “We met once and he’s married, Nellie. I’m not about to have sex with a married man because then they’ll get a divorce and it’ll all be my fault. Oh, no...he has children too. I can’t be a stepmom. I’m too young to be a stepmom.”

“No way. He’s super old,” Nellie said before shaking her head. “I was talking about Tom. Your co-star.”

“Oh...Tom?” Billie questioned, just barely coherent. “No way. I’m never letting his probably uncut cock, because he’s from the UK and you know what they say about penises from overseas, near my vagina.”

“Because you’re afraid of uncircumcised penises?” Nellie asked dumbly, finally giving up and playing along with Billie’s drunken side. “That’s kind of shallow.”

“No. That’s not what I meant. It’s not like penises are pretty to look at anyways. Cut or uncut doesn’t even matter,” Billie said loudly as she gave her friend her drunken opinion. “I just meant that I’m tired of little boys and their little boy problems. Tyler is the last boy I’ll date. It’s back to dating _men_ for me.”

“Billie, you’re not about to date another Teddy, are you?” Nellie said in disappointment. Nellie was actually the only person that knew about Teddy. Billie hadn’t told anyone else. Not even Matty. 

“Another asshole? Hopefully not,” Billie said before continuing. “I’m just sick of games and all the teenage boy bullshit. I’m tired of bad and inexperienced sex too. I want a man, Nellie.”

“A man, right?” Nellie said as she nodded along, not taking her drunk friend very seriously. 

“I want a man who actually knows where a g-spot is and doesn’t think sex is over just because _he_ finished. I deserve better than that,” Billie said stubbornly and Nellie knew that there was no way she could deny that Billie was hammered.  
  
She just hoped that Billie cooled the sex talk around Sebastian. Nellie got the sense that Sebastian thought Billie was a sweet innocent young girl. Much like a father viewed his daughter. A perfect angel. She couldn’t imagine his reaction to Billie complaining loudly about how horny she was because no one wanted to have sex with her. 

Nellie doubted no one wanted to have sex with Billie because from what she had heard about a certain British actor, she was sure there was, at least, one person who was super into having sex with Billie. Probably more than sex too.

“I wonder if Chadwick is single. He’s really hot and, like, a man and stuff,” Billie told Nellie much to the slightly shorter girl’s amusement. “Let me tell you something, Nells, for that man I would break my co-star rule a thousand times. I know he’s older than my real dad and stuff but I would let him do really nasty things to me.”

“Billie…” Nellie said as she struggled not to laugh at a drunk Billie. She kind of wished she was recording this because Billie would be absolutely mortified by all the weird shit she was saying.

“I totally would. I saw him at the gym once and then I had this crazy sex dream about him where I was the Viper Assassin and he was the Black Panther but the Viper Assassin got into some big trouble with him so she had to give him a royal-”

“Billie!” Nellie said, eyes widening at the probably very graphic retelling of a sex dream Billie was about to tell her. Nellie didn’t really need to hear about Billie’s sex dream about the Viper Assassin and the Black Panther doing it.

“I had a weird sex dream about Tom too but it was really just a gender bent version of _Romancing the Stone_ -” Billie started to say and Nellie gave her a confused look.

“ _Romancing the Stone_? Like, with Michael Douglas?” Nellie asked now perplexed by Billie’s weird dreams. Billie nodded like this was completely normal.

“Except _he_ was Kathleen Turner and _I_ was Michael Douglas,” Billie told her casually. “It was really hot. Lots of jungle sex and running away from the Columbian drug cartel. It was a real adventure. We never got around to finding that stone though.”

“Because of the drug cartel?” Nellie asked her innocently and Billie shrugged.

“No, too much jungle sex, actually,” Billie said and Nellie just shook her head slowly, clearly amused by Billie’s sex dream about Tom. She would definitely be teasing her about this in the future. 

“I think we’re almost there,” Nellie said instead of responding to Billie’s weirdness. 

The pair slowly made their way across the parking lot to find Sebastian’s car. Nellie basically had to drag Billie since Billie’s feet weren’t quite cooperating. She was just glad that no one seemingly took pictures of Billie in her incredibly intoxicated state.  
  
Nellie didn’t know what was up with Billie because it was never like the blonde actress to drink that much. Occasionally at the high school parties Nellie would bring Billie to, the blonde would have a beer or two. Maybe she’d even have a whiskey and coke but she never piled on the Jell-O shots like she had tonight. 

Nellie wondered what was going inside that pretty little blonde head of hers. 

“I hope you know we’re both totally fucked,” Nellie said under her breath as she finally spotted Sebastian’s car and started heading for it.

“Why? Is Chadwick here?” Billie questioned dumbly and Nellie would’ve facepalmed if she hadn’t been busy trying to keep a very tall blonde girl from falling flat on her face. 

“We’re here. Let’s go home, okay?” Nellie told Billie and the girl started resisting once she realized it was time to go home. 

“I don’t want to go home! The night’s still young!” Billie said loudly as Nellie struggled to open the car door and manage to make sure Billie didn’t fall over at the same time. “Let’s go find Michael B! He’s probably still around here somewhere. We’re way hotter than that slutty girl he was with anyways.”

“No, Billie. Leave poor Michael B. Jordan alone and don’t slut shame people,” Nellie told her as she finally opened the car door and began to unsuccessfully shove Billie inside as Sebastian and Sarah watched from the front seat with wide eyes. 

“It’s okay for a slut to slut shame,” Billie told her defiantly as she tried to hold onto the edge of the car to prevent Nellie from shoving her inside. 

“You’re not a slut, Billie. Now calm down,” Nellie tried to tell her, fully aware that Sarah and Sebastian could probably hear and see every part of Billie’s drunken state. 

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Billie said defiantly once more as Nellie continued to try and force her into the car. “Let go back to the festival and listen to more Lana.”

“Lana already left, Billie.”

“Boo!” Billie complained loudly. “We can have our own Lana Del Rey concert!”

“Oh my god! Is she drunk?!” Sarah asked, eyes wide with panic as Sebastian stared at Billie like some kind of alien inhabited her body. He had never seen his girlfriend’s daughter/co-star/friend in such a state. The teenager was usually very serious.

“Uh...no,” Nellie said, offering both grown-ups a nervous smile. 

“My pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola! My eyes are wide like cherry pies!” Billie then sang loudly which probably proved that Nellie was lying at this point. “I’ve gots a taste for men who’re older! It’s always been so it’s no surprise!”

Sebastian looked utterly horrified while Sarah’s jaw hung open in surprise. 

Who was this stranger?

Billie then started giggling excessively. 

“Lana really knows me like no one else,” Billie slurred as Sebastian and Sarah just stared at her in shock. “We’d be best friends in real life because we’ve both fu-” 

Nellie clasped a hand over Billie’s mouth before Billie could tell her mom and Sebastian anything that she’d regret. The brunette had a good feeling that Billie was going to reveal the fact that both she and Lana Del Rey fucked older guys. Yeah, Billie’s mom wasn’t going to be happy about that.

“Ow!” Nellie then exclaimed as she retracted her hand in horror. She glared at her best friend who just gave her an innocent look. “Did you just bite me?!”

“Sue me.”

“Bitch,” Nellie said, wiping her hand against her dress. 

It was at that point that Sebastian decided to get out of the car and help the very drunk Billie into the backseat. He didn’t really know what to do in this situation. This wasn’t like the times he used to stupidly get a little drunk with his friends back in high school. This was different because Billie wasn’t that kind of friend. She was his girlfriend’s daughter but also someone Sebastian had felt a bit more paternal towards in recent weeks. He supposed it came with the territory since he was now dating her mother.

“Billie, get in the car,” Sebastian said as he attempted to help Billie’s friend with her. Billie gave him a lazy smile as she held out her arms towards him.

“Daddy!” Billie exclaimed before wrapping Sebastian up in a hug. Sebastian’s eyes widened in both surprise and horror. If this had been any other scenario Sarah and Nellie would’ve laughed but unfortunately this wasn’t another scenario. This was Billie being really drunk while undoubtedly embarrassing herself.

“Read me a bedtime story, daddy. I’m tired,” Billie said, closing her eyes and snuggling against Sebastian. Sebastian looked between the blonde actress and her mother in horror. 

“God, how much did you drink? The whole bar?” Sebastian questioned as he tried to pry Billie off of him but she wouldn’t let go.  "Who would even serve you alcohol? You're fucking eighteen."

**“** Just some yummy Jell-O shots. I love lime,” Billie slurred as she stood there, clinging to Sebastian’s side. “Lime’s my favorite.”

“I don’t know how many Jell-O shots she had. We had some in my friend’s VIP tent earlier and then we went to the Neon Carnival-” Nellie started to say, looking really guilty but she decided it was better to be honest anyways.

“The Neon Carnival? ” Sebastian questioned, vaguely recognizing the name of the super exclusive a-list party at Coachella. Sebastian had never been but he heard a lot of stories over the years. None of them good.

“Well, they didn’t want to let us in because the stupid bouncer guy didn’t know who Billie was but Zendaya saw us and told him that we were with her and-” Nellie started to ramble and Sebastian stopped her.

“Who the hell is Zendaya?” Sebastian questioned and Nellie looked at him like he had grown another head.

“You don’t know who Zendaya is? Geez, I know you guys are in your thirties and all but-” Nellie started to say but Sarah had enough at this point.

**“** Just get her inside the damn car. I’m going to have a very long talk with Billie tomorrow but I’m also going to have a talk with your mother, Eleanor,” Sarah’s mom said from the passenger seat of the car, her eyes narrowing into a glare. Nellie gulped at the use of her full name. 

**“** Fair enough,” Nellie said as she started to help Sebastian pry Billie off of him and put her in the car. Billie whined but this time she seemed more willing to get inside the car. Probably because she was starting to get tired.

“I wish you were my daddy, Sea Bass,” Billie continued to slur as Sebastian blushed and fought the urge to sink into a very large hole. Sarah just rolled her eyes, not believing that Billie chose the day she turned eighteen to turn into the irresponsible, idiotic teenager that Sarah always feared would come out. It was really just typical. Sarah hoped that Billie had a lot of fun at that festival because she was in a shit ton of trouble from here on out. Sarah couldn’t believe the nerve of her.

“If you were my dad I’d be half Romanian which is cool because that’s basically being half vampire,” Billie continued to tell him as Sebastian just nodded, not knowing what else to say to the very drunk teenager. “Ooh! Since you’re Romanian and all does your family have a super creepy castle with ghosts and stuff? You’d be the best dad ever if you had a haunted castle. I would love you forever and ever and ever and...” 

Billie probably listed off five more “evers” before Nellie got in the back seat with her and Sebastian closed the door on them, cutting Billie off. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. 

This was really weird.

Sebastian had never seen Billie in a state like this before and he didn’t really know how to deal with it. He supposed it wasn’t like he could get mad at Billie and parent her because she wasn’t his kid. He’d just have to leave it to Sarah and be supportive. 

Even though Billie was drunk and probably didn’t know what she was saying, it was still weird for him to hear her call him “dad”. The daddy thing was a little creepy but Sebastian didn’t think he was as disturbed as he thought he’d be by the remarks she made about wishing he was her real dad.

Sebastian dismissed it all in the end. 

She probably didn’t even know what she was saying. Billie would forget about it in the morning after suffering from a massive hangover. 

Sebastian finally got in the driver’s side of his car only to find Sarah with a very annoyed and frustrated look on her face as Billie didn’t seem to want to shut up any time soon. He quickly shut the car door behind him.

“Sebastian! You’re back!” Billie said loudly as she leaned forward in her seat to wrap her arms around him. “I missed you so much!”  
  
“I was gone for five seconds, Billie,” Sebastian told her and Billie just shook her head.

“I always miss you though,” Billie told him sadly before grinning at both him and her mother in the next minute. “Which is why I’m so happy you and mom are together now. I’m happy for you guys.”

“Thanks,” Sebastian said awkwardly as he started the car.

“I love you so much, Seb,” Billie told him, being much more vocal about her feelings than usual. Who knew it only took a bunch of Jell-O shots to get Billie to tell you how she really felt. “You’re so pretty. I just wanted you to know that. You’re prettiest man I’ve ever seen. I think you’re even prettier than Hemsworth.”

“Thanks,” Sebastian said again and Sarah rolled her eyes at her stupid teenage daughter. Now she finally understood all the shit her father went through when he was trying to raise her. 

“Hemsworth? Please...that guy’s so overrated,” Billie slurred. “I totally think the Black Widow should get together with Bucky by the way. I know how much you want that to happen, Seb. You’re a billion times better looking than old man Buffalo. That guy’s super old and hairy. Gross.” 

“Okay,” Sebastian said and he was beginning to run out of things to say to her. Billie sighed heavily.

“Your hair smells good. What did you put in it? It smells better than Old Spice,” Billie asked him as Sebastian turned out of the parking lot and started heading back to their hotel.

“I don’t know, Billie. Shampoo,” Sebastian told her distractedly as he turned on to the main street. Billie scoffed.

“Lies. You have to use conditioner for hair likes yours,” Billie said, seemingly all of a sudden obsessed with Sebastian’s hair. “You have the best hair out of all the Avengers. Did you see Hiddleston’s hair? Can you say receding hairline?” 

“Yeah, sure. Conditioner. Whatever,” Sebastian mumbled as he turned at the green light. He was then left shocked when Billie started touching his hair and running her fingers through it. Sarah just glared at her daughter while Nellie looked like she was struggling not to take out her phone and film the whole thing. 

“So soft. It feels just like my guinea pig’s fur used to feel like,” Billie said before glancing over at her mother, somehow oblivious to Sebastian’s discomfort and her mother’s glare. “You two are perfect for each other. I don’t even care that Sebastian’s doing my mom and I don’t even care about all the “your mom” jokes Mackie’s going to make. I’m just happy for you guys.”

“Hey, when do you think I’ll get a little brother or sister?” Billie asked much to Sebastian and Sarah’s horror. “We all know that mom’s not exactly good with a condom.”

“I can’t believe you got drunk, Billie!” Sarah finally said, having it up to here with Billie’s drunken antics. Billie immediately slumped over in her seat. “The only reason I let you go to Coachella alone is because I mistakenly thought you were more mature and responsible than most teenagers. I thought you could handle it.”

“It’s Coachella! You have to get drunk and high at Coachella or you’re not doing it right,” Billie told her. Sebastian wished the speed limit was faster at this point. He’d go faster except that he didn’t want to get pulled over in a car with two drunk teenagers in the backseat. 

“Oh my god! Are you high right now too?” Sarah as she stared at her daughter in fear. Billie waved her hand dismissively. “Weed? LSD? What is it?”

“I’m drunk. Not high. There’s a difference,” Billie told her. “I smelt weed at the festival but I didn’t smoke any.”

“How can I believe you right now? You’re wasted.” 

“Believe what you want but I’m not a stoner,” Billie said in a huffy tone as she and her mother then started an argument. Sebastian and Nellie remained quiet as they were forced to watch the daughter and mother have a family dispute. It was even more awkward because they couldn’t leave. 

They were both stuck.

“Don’t talk to me like that! God, I thought I raised you better than to get drunk at a festival with a bunch of celebrities,” Sarah told her in a disappointed tone. “Are you trying to be Justin Bieber or something? Is that what this is?”

“Don’t tell me that I’m Justin fucking Bieber! You know how much I hate that guy!” Billie argued drunkenly. "Damn Canadians try to pawn Bieber off on our country. We already have Taylor Swift so we're already fucked. They can keep that monkey buying weirdo and leave us the hell alone."

“Well, you’re sure as hell acting like him,” Sarah threw back at her, ignoring her rant about Justin Bieber, before shaking her head. “I can’t believe I actually trusted you. I can’t believe I trusted that you would go to the festival like a responsible adult and return sober and not drunk. Do you know how much you’re embarrassing yourself in front of Sebastian right now?”

Oh, god. 

Sebastian really didn’t want to get caught up in the middle of this right now. 

He had absolutely no idea what to do. Did he get mad at Billie and scold her or did he just stand back and let her mother do all the talking? Sebastian really wished there was some kind of guidebook for guys dating single mothers. Maybe he’d look something up on his phone later. He didn’t want Billie to think he was trying to be her parent but he also didn’t know if he could just be her friend in this scenario either.

“Yeah, well, before Sebastian was _your_ boyfriend, he was _my_ friend,” Billie said stubbornly as she crossed her arms before talking about Sebastian like he was a possession that her mom and her were fighting over. “He was totally mine first so you’re lucky that I let you have him.”

“I’m not even going to talk to you right now. You’re completely drunk and you’re just talking stupid,” Sarah said in annoyance before turning back around in her seat. Billie maturely stuck her tongue out at her mother which Sebastian caught in the rearview mirror. 

He really couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning when she got that hangover. She’d be changing her tune then.

Was this what dealing with a teenager was like? Sebastian wasn’t sure. He had only been around maybe forty five percent of the time when they were filming. Sebastian hadn’t been around this much but now he was starting to see the unglamorous side of being around a teenager. Not matter how much you cared about said teenager and said teenager’s mom. 

“If any of you care to know, Matty Healy totally winked at me during his performance of ‘Love Me’ so best birthday ever,” Billie said, trying to change the subject but it was clear that her mom wasn’t amused and Sebastian didn’t really know how to talk to a drunk Billie. 

“He’s one of two British guys I’d make an exception for and I for one-” Billie immediately stopped talking which drew both her mom and Sebastian’s curiosity. Sebastian turned down a street before sneaking a quick glance at Billie in the backseat. Billie sat very still in her seat with a wide eyed look on her face like Sebastian had never seen before, her face as white as a ghost.

Sarah’s anger disappeared in an instant before a look of concern came over her face. 

“Billie, what’s wrong?” Sarah asked worriedly and Billie just shook her head slowly, still looking bewildered.

“I…” Billie was about to speak more when something stopped her.  
  
The young actress abruptly threw up out of nowhere. 

The very wasted blonde suddenly knew what Regan from _The Exorcist_ must’ve felt like as she vomited in the backseat of Sebastian’s very expensive car. Sebastian’s eyes widened in horror as he watched a drunk Billie throw up in the backseat of his car. Something he never would’ve imagined in a million years.

“Oh my god!” Sarah exclaimed in shock. 

“Oh no…” Nellie said as she watched(and smelled) Billie throwing up. Her own drunkenness and the smell of Billie’s vomit put together caused Nellie to feel a similar feeling of nausea. It didn’t take long before the brunette leaned forward and started puking too. 

“My car,” Sebastian murmured sadly between looking back in worry at Billie who was still puking. They had only just pulled into the parking slot at the hotel.

If only Sebastian had pulled in a couple minutes sooner then maybe the interior of his car could be saved.

It was probably just a pipe dream.

Sarah immediately got out of the car as soon as Sebastian stopped and raced over to get the backseat door open where the two girls were still vomiting. 

“Billie!” Sarah cried as she hurriedly tried to get her drunk daughter out of the car. Sebastian went to the other side to help Billie’s friend. As he helped her out of his car, the girl managed to throw up on his jacket. Sebastian gasped sharply, never having been thrown up on before, and the girl slumped against him which forced Sebastian to steady her.

So the honeymoon phase of the new step in his and Billie’s relationship was over. And yes, he meant Billie and not her mother who he was still very much going through the honeymoon phase with. The fun seemed to be over now and Sebastian was finally transitioning from being Billie's friend into being an almost stepparent which was something he never thought would happen in a million years. 

It was a rude awakening but Sebastian was starting to realize that it wasn’t all late nights watching tv and taking strolls through town while talking about life in general. Being a parent was probably a lot more complicated than that and Sebastian didn’t think he was ready for it.

But who was really ready to be a parent anyways?

Sebastian was scared out of his mind but he also knew he was too deep in to just back out now. He didn’t think he wanted to back out either. 

This was what he always wanted. 

Sarah and Billie.

He had to accept everything. The good times as well as the bad. Sebastian was ready to do this because he loved both of those crazy women. They were completely worth it in his eyes. Even the vomit was worth it. 

“Billie, not on the hood of Sebastian’s car!” 

Still worth it.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert has a dinner party to kick off the press tour meanwhile everything intensifies for Billie and Tom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've just been busy with school and work among other things. Thanks for reading the story and please let me know what you think of the new chapter. I'll try to be quicker with the next one. The next couple chapters will be filled with fun press tour stuff so there's a lot to look forward to.

For the first time in Billie Aufderheide’s life she was grounded.

She was totally and completely grounded which sucked because Billie had literally just turned eighteen. This was a milestone in her young life. To Billie it meant that she could drink alcohol in England and date anyone she wanted without having to hide it but to her mom it apparently meant nothing. It meant that Billie could still be grounded because as long as Billie lived under her roof then she was fully capable of being grounded.

Billie knew she fucked up.

Getting wasted at Coachella probably wasn’t the wisest idea. Especially with how drunk she got and then vomiting all over the inside(and the outside) of Sebastian’s car. Her mom had been livid when she woke up and yelled at Billie which hurt a lot because of the massive hangover Billie had been suffering from. Sebastian had been a bit more sympathetic as he gave her a glass of water with ibuprofen but Billie knew that even _he_ was mad at her.

Her mom gave her a gigantic lecture about her stupidity and how she had ruined Sebastian’s car. Billie apologized to Sebastian which was kind of awkward before she and Nellie were forced to clean his car. Billie also probably said a bunch of weird drunk stuff to him. Billie didn’t know because she didn’t remember much from that night. It was all a blur after the batting cage with Charlie.

God, had she really flirted with Charlie Puth?

Weird.

There was one thing Billie learned about herself during Coachella. Billie’s father and Jell-O shots really didn’t mix. Especially since Jell-O shots really had a way of sneaking up on you.

Well, they sneaked up on Billie, at least.

“Billie, are you ready for the party?” Her mom asked from the doorway of the guest room Billie was staying in while she and her mom were staying with Sebastian in LA.

The blonde was wearing a red sequined dress with long sheer sleeves. The skirt of the dress fell just above Billie’s knees and it was part of the spring collection Miu Miu had let her keep. She paired the dress off with a pair of four inch black heels and a red choker necklace to top it all off. Her hair was pulled up into a lazy bun and she applied more makeup than she normally would when just seeing her co-stars. Billie would never admit that it may have had to do with the fact that this would be the first time she had seen Tom in close to two months.

“Yeah,” Billie said quietly, knowing her mom was still kind of angry with her over last weekend. She felt guilty for disappointing her mom and now she wished she had never gone to Coachella in the first place. Not to mention she had also gotten Nellie into a lot of trouble too although the brunette assured Billie that it was fine and that she still had a lot of fun despite everything.

“Good. We have to get going soon,” Sarah said just as quietly. She found it difficult speaking to Billie ever since that night at Coachella. After seeing her daughter like that, Sarah suddenly felt like maybe she didn’t know her daughter as well as she thought she did. Sarah was starting to feel like she had no clue what was going on inside Billie’s head and that terrified her. 

“I know,” Billie said, giving her mom a small smile as she glanced over her outfit.

 Her mom, who was much shorter than Billie, wore a black dress with a skirt that was a bit shorter than Billie’s. It was covered in gold emblems but had a very modest neckline and no sleeves. She left her hair down and swept off to one side. Billie thought her mom looked really beautiful and thought about telling her so before realizing that apparently they were fighting. She didn’t really know what to say to her mom after everything. She knew she had disappointed her and Billie felt like shit for doing that.

“The car’s waiting outside the house for us so we should get going before we’re late,” Sarah told her daughter and Billie nodded. “Sebastian’s already waiting for us.”

“Let’s go then,” Billie told her and her mom returned her smile before nodding. She left her room, not sure she was completely looking forward to going to a party of all things. Billie kind of just wanted to go home at this point. She didn’t feel like going on a press tour and she didn’t feel like trading friendly conversation with her co-stars. Her father trying to get back in touch with her really threw her off.

In all honesty, Billie just wanted to crawl into her bed and sob but she knew she couldn’t do that with her mom and Sebastian around. They would question why she was crying and what was going on but Billie didn’t want to talk about it. She just wanted to continue to pretend like her father didn’t exist but that was growing more and more impossible.

Billie just wanted to be alone but that was an impossible notion in the world she lived in.

Let’s face it...she’d never be alone.

* * *

 

Billie had been to Robert’s house in the past. He liked hosting little get-togethers and being friendly with his co-stars. She had been to a barbeque the year before at his house but somehow every time his house seemed to surprise her.

It was more like a palace than a house.

The place was so fucking huge and filled to the brim with the kind of modern architecture you only saw on HGTV. Billie thought she knew a fair amount about real estate from watching countless hours of _House Hunters_ and _Fixer Upper_ with her mom. So she knew what she was talking about when she said Robert had a really fucking nice house.

The party was just an intimate and comfortable dinner party but it was swarming with celebrities, their families, producers, and both Joe and Anthony Russo. Everyone was scattered around the Downey’s home, chatting amongst each other. Robert’s personal chef was hard at work making food for the party and Billie fought the urge to roll her eyes and scoff.

Of course, Downey couldn’t cook. His wife obviously didn’t marry him for his looks but she also didn’t marry him for his cooking skills.   


But...what did she marry him for then?   


Billie would never know.

Everyone had grinned at Billie, Sebastian, and Sarah from the moment they had set foot inside the house. Sebastian mentioned to Chris and Anthony that he and Sarah were now officially together which Billie knew, of course, meant that they had probably passed that info off to the others like the gossiping old ladies they were. They teased the happy couple while Billie managed to sneak by them and hid in Susan’s library. She only knew it was Susan’s library because Robert probably didn’t know how to read.

Poor Susan.

This was where Billie was about an hour into the party as she avoided all her co-stars. Billie just didn’t feel like talking to people tonight. Well, she never felt like talking to people but tonight she really didn’t feel like doing it. So she sat in an armchair in the library/office, re-reading Jane Eyre as she killed time. Billie wondered if the armchair meant that Robert was taking his Sherlock Holmes role a little too seriously. She really didn’t think he should since everyone knew Benedict Cumberbatch was the better Sherlock.   


If Billie was being honest, she was kind of hoping to find Robert’s diary in here but after a fifteen minute search, she came up empty handed. It sucked because Emma would’ve liked to learn all his secrets then blackmail him as an anonymous blackmailer online. Kind of like Rami Malek in _Mr. Robot_. But she wouldn’t want money. She’d just do it for the sake of fucking with him.

Ah, well, Billie’s evil villain plans would have to wait for another day.

“Billie?”

She looked up at the person standing in the doorway, tearing her gaze away from the book.

Tom was standing there staring at her.

 Deep down Billie knew that she had missed him but she would also never tell him that she missed him. Billie fought the urge to blush because it just so happened that Nellie had been teasing her for the past week about her Tom related sex dreams. Of course, Billie knew all about those and decided to keep them secret for the rest of her life but apparently Drunk Billie was very vocal about her sex dreams and the fact no one wanted to have sex with her.

 _“No one wants to have sex with me!”_ Nellie had whined through the phone, mocking Billie much to the blonde’s annoyance and embarrassment. This was, of course, before Billie’s mom took her phone away. _“Except for Tom probably but I can’t have sex with him because I’m scared of his foreign penis!”_

Billie really needed to hold off on those Jell-O shots next time. They snuck up on you and when Billie woke up the next day, she had no idea where she was. It only took a moment for her to calm down and realize that she was with her mom and Sebastian. And that was only because her mom was glaring at her before she started yelling at her for getting drunk.  

“Hey, Holland,” Billie said as she tried to keep her drunken ramblings out of her mind.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Tom told her, looking quite happy to see her. “No one seemed to know where you were. Robert said you were probably trying to find his social security number.”

“I was actually looking for his diary but it’s good to know he has faith in me,” Billie said, being her usual self. Tom was just glad to see her after such a long time. Well, in all honesty it hadn’t been that long but he really missed her. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since he left. Billie really had a way of getting inside his head more than anyone he had ever met before.

“Are we even supposed to be in here? This looks like Robert or his wife’s office,” Tom asked her as he looked around the room. Billie shrugged as she set the book down.

“I don’t concern myself with what I should and shouldn’t do,” Billie said which was more true than Tom would ever know. This was obvious since Billie not concerning herself with what she should or shouldn’t do was why she was in a heap of trouble with her mom right now. “Thanks for the present you sent me by the way.”

Billie was, of course, referring to the very unexpected and random gift Tom sent her. She had opened it right before she left for California about a week and a half ago. Billie hadn’t asked Tom for anything or even thought he knew when her birthday was but it’s not like her birthday was a secret.

Anyone who googled her could find it out.

Billie had eagerly opened the very thin package only to reveal a small but old looking poster for a concert inside. The sight of the poster stumped Billie for a moment before she realized what it was. It was a promotional poster for a Jefferson Airplane concert from 1967. The illustrations on the poster were psychedelic in a fashion only concert posters from the 1960s could be. Tears had brimmed Billie’s eyes as she stared at the poster in fascination before noticing a note attached to the poster.

_Billie,_

_I saw this in a shop here in London the other day when I was out with my brothers. It immediately made me think of you. The seller of the poster was close to our age when she took it from a lamp post in 1967 if you can believe it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I promised the seller you would. Happy Birthday._

_-Tom_

Billie had been in disbelief over the gift because she didn’t know how he knew she loved Jefferson Airplane. It was entirely shocking to her until she remembered that she bought a Jefferson Airplane record that day she and Tom visited the record store in the Bronx. Billie was astonished he had even remembered a seemingly insignificant detail about her. Her friends didn’t even seem to remember something that insignificant about her.

That she loved Jefferson Airplane.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Tom told her, seemingly a little bashful as he shyly avoided her gaze. “I just saw it in a shop and thought of you.”

“Well, it was very thoughtful so thank you,” Billie told him sincerely, giving him a small smile while feeling secretly amused at his shy and adorable nature. “I loved it.”

“I’m glad,” Tom told her, not knowing what else to say. There was a silence that fell in between them. It wasn’t awkward or anything but actually sort of peaceful although Tom didn’t deal with silence too well. He always felt the need to fill long silences up with conversation so it wasn’t odd when he changed the subject. “I’ve been texting you for the past week but you haven’t responded.”

“I haven’t responded because I don’t like you. I never have,” Billie told him with a serious look on her face. She almost felt bad when she noticed the hurt look slowly forming on Tom’s face. Billie felt like she kicked a puppy. “Geez, don’t start crying. I was just kidding. My mom took my phone away.”

“Oh…” Tom said, looking really relieved although he decided that he would never understand Billie’s weirdness. “She took your phone away? Why?”

Billie shrugged.

“Let’s just say I had a little _too_ much fun at Coachella last weekend,” Billie said vaguely, really not wanting to talk about it. It was really embarrassing. Tom, however, looked really curious.

“What kind of fun?” Tom asked her and Billie smirked before giving him an innocent look but Tom knew better. Billie was anything _but_ innocent.

“The fun kind of fun,” Billie said and there it was again. Tom detected a flirtatiousness in her voice and a certain gleam in her eyes as she smirked at him. If it was any other girl then Tom would’ve been positive that she was interested in him. However, Billie was very complicated and Tom doubted his instincts.

“Well, now I’m very curious,” Tom said as he played along in their flirting like he always seemed to do. Usually Tom wouldn’t be so confident as to blatantly flirt with his very attractive co-star but Billie seemed to bring something almost foreign out of him. “What could you have done that was so bad that you got your phone taken away?”

“I took my bra off and threw it at Matty Healy’s face,” Billie said with an entirely serious expression on her face. This actually caused the amused look to fall off Tom’s face as he looked at the blonde in shock.

“What?” Tom said in surprise and Billie laughed at the look on his face.

“I’m just kidding. God, Holland. What kind of girl do you take me for?” Billie told him and Tom could’ve sighed in contentment because he missed that accent so much. They facetimed quite a bit but it was better seeing and hearing her in person.

“So what happened, then?” Tom questioned and Billie just shook her head at her own stupidity over last weekend.

“Short story short, I got wasted at Coachella last weekend,” Billie told him much to Tom’s surprise. “Jell-O shots really sneak up on you.”

“It didn’t end up in the tabloids, did it?” Tom asked, looking worried about her which made Billie feel…icky inside.

“Thankfully no but my mom and Sebastian picked my friend Nellie and I up from the festival,” Billie informed him and Tom inwardly winced at Billie’s news. He could imagine how bad that was.

“To say my mom was pissed was an understatement,” Billie said and Tom finally took the time to look at Billie. She was wearing a stunning red dress and Tom couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of her.

“Well, she’ll get over it. I’m sure,” Tom told her as he considered whether or not he should tell her something. However, Tom decided to just go for it because who could it hurt? “You look really beautiful tonight.”

“So normally I look hideous?” Billie retorted and Tom’s eyes widened, fearing that he had offended Billie somehow. He shook his head furiously.

“No, of course not. I-“

“I’m messing with you, Tom. You’re really gullible, you know that?” Billie told him much to his relief. “Thank you. You look great too.”

“What? This old thing?” Tom said jokingly as he gestured towards his simple dark blue button down shirt and jeans. He hadn’t really dressed up like Billie had and decided to just go for a casual look. Although he noticed that Billie nearly always dressed up. Tom doubted he’d seen her dressed in anything less than fashionable.

“So how has life been going for you, Holland?” Billie questioned teasingly. “Any jealous girlfriends?”

“What?” Tom said in confusion and Billie shrugged.

“I was referring to the fact that we’re apparently dating,” Billie reminded him and Tom had, of course, never forgotten about that. Everyone asked him if he and Billie were dating including his family. It was a little embarrassing to say the least since his dad always teased him about when they were going to meet his girlfriend.

“Oh…that,” Tom said, blushing a little as he looked back at a very amused Billie. “I’m sorry if that’s caused you any trouble, Billie.”

“Tom, do you know how many guys I’m dating right now according to the media?” Billie asked him rhetorically as she rolled her eyes. “According to them I must be having sex with a different actor or popstar every weekend. I’d probably have every disease known to mankind if any of it was true.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Tom mumbled, not feeling as special as before because he was just one name on a long list of actors and musicians that people thought Billie was dating. He probably wasn’t even the most noteworthy one on that list.

“In all seriousness, I’m sorry if the whole thing has been a nuisance,” Billie said, honestly feeling a little guilty for dragging Tom’s name through the mud. The whole media frenzy was a bit crazy and Billie honestly liked Tom as a friend and didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable by hanging out with her.

She constantly worried she would turn into Taylor Swift whose entire private life was under a microscope. Billie wasn’t the biggest fan of Taylor Swift but she did feel a lot of sympathy for the singer since every relationship Taylor seemed to have also involved the media and Billie was scared that the same thing would happen to her. Billie just didn’t want to end up like Taylor Swift who had never had a relationship that lasted longer than a year. She had a feeling it wasn’t because Taylor Swift was an awful person but maybe just because no guy could commit to a relationship where there was zero privacy.

Billie was beginning to realize that she would probably never have a successful relationship either or she would at least be like Elizabeth Taylor who got married and divorced more times than a person could count.

“I know it’s a lot to deal with,” Billie finally finished, trying to seem nonchalant about the whole thing when she was really just the opposite. It’s not like she wanted to date Tom or anything but she just feared that he would be the first of many who wouldn’t want to be around her because of all the craze.

“It’s been interesting. More or less,” Tom told her truthfully, trying to reassure her that it wasn’t a problem. This whole thing might’ve been an eye opening experience for Tom. He got a glimpse into what Billie’s life must’ve been like and he’d be lying if he said that he envied her for it. “My friends and family tease me a bit for it but I haven’t found it too bothersome. I don’t really have a girlfriend so no jealousy there.”

“No girlfriend, huh?” Billie questioned, finding it hard to believe that he didn’t have a girlfriend. He definitely wasn’t for her but Tom was the kind of guy most girls dreamed about. He was very gentlemanly, kind, thoughtful, and goofy. Tom was the guy you wanted to bring home to your family. Billie usually dated guys who were assholes so she had yet to date a guy that she even bothered to bring home to her mom and grandfather. “That’s a shame. I always wanted to be the other woman and beat the crap out of my alleged lover’s girlfriend.”

“I don’t really have time to have a girlfriend,” Tom told her honestly and Billie gave him a teasing smirk.

“Ooh…Tom Holland’s too busy to have a girlfriend. He has a lot of places to be,” Billie teased him and Tom rolled his eyes. “He’s even too busy for sex. He walks around with a purity ring because he’s the missing Jonas Brother.”

“I said I’m too busy to date. Not too busy to have sex,” Tom said daringly and Billie feigned a surprised look.

“When did you take off your purity ring, Holland?” Billie questioned, looking appalled. Tom just laughed while he shook his head at her because she was definitely insane. “It’s nice you can have casual sex with strangers. I guess I’m just a serial monogamist so no sex for me. It sucks having trust issues.”

Tom suddenly became very interested in the conversation when Billie started talking about her own sex life. He was starting to realize his interest in Billie intensified every time he saw her so there was no denying he was attracted to her at this point. Yes, Billie was crazy and weird but for some reason bickering with her seemed to turn him on.

So when Billie mentioned sex, his ears kind of perked up a bit. He wasn’t going to lie and say that he was disappointed to hear that things with her and her dick pic sharing boyfriend didn’t work out. Tom was happy they had broken up but he was going to apologize to Billie for causing any problems between her and her boyfriend.

Although that didn’t mean that he meant it.

“So no boyfriends then?” Tom tried to ask nonchalantly and Billie raised an eyebrow at him.

“I just told you I’m a serial monogamist and I’m not having sex. What do you think?” Billie told him in a usual Billie fashion.

Tom just swallowed hard as he stared at Billie.

He thought he could take care of her no sex problem and he definitely could take care of her no boyfriend problem. Tom knew he said he was too busy for a relationship but he’d definitely make it work for her because it was Billie, after all. He wasn’t talking about Billie Aufderheide the famous actress but Billie as in the girl who teased him all the time and astonished him with all her craziness.

Tom fully realized he was a goner for her at this point and he didn’t know how he was going spend a few months shooting a movie with her next month if he was going to be around her all the time. He could never think clearly when he was around her. Yes, she drove him crazy sometimes but she also fascinated him like no one before her ever had. She was crazy but she wouldn’t be _his_ Billie if she wasn’t.

His Billie.

Tom didn’t think he could really lay claim to Billie since they weren’t dating and he didn’t think Billie had any interest in him anyways. He figured Billie was also the type of person who would sneer at him if he tried to say that he wanted her to be his. She was very independent but also very much a feminist which he admired a lot about her.

Tom finally gained a bit of confidence and decided to make a go for it. Billie said she wasn’t interested in dating co-stars but maybe she hadn’t been serious. There was also an undeniable chemistry between them so maybe things had changed.

Tom wouldn’t know unless he asked her.

He would’ve done it when they were back in New York but he had been pretty bummed out back then because he found out his ex had moved on to someone else. Things were different now because Tom was completely over his ex and his attention was currently being preoccupied by an eccentric Texan.

“So we know each other pretty well now,” Tom started to say and he had no idea how he was going to say this to Billie who was staring at him. Her eyes mesmerizing blue eyes had a way of making Tom forget what he was trying to say.

“Sure,” Billie said casually before giving him a suspicious look. “This isn’t your way of asking if we’re friends, right? Fine…we’re friends. Just chill the fuck out.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Tom said as he actually tried to ask Billie out. No one ever said asking Billie out was an easy task but he never felt the need to do something about his feelings more than he did right then with being back in Billie’s company. “I just wanted to say that I think there’s kind of this thing we have.”

“What thing?” Billie questioned, wondering what nonsense Tom was spewing out now. Tom blushed which Billie kind of found adorable. She didn’t really know guys could blush like that but Tom let her know that they could.

“I just noticed that we’re always flirting and I don’t know about you but I don’t really flirt with my friends,” Tom told her and Billie would be lying if she said that she usually flirted with her guy friends. However, she just shrugged it off.

“So?” Billie said and she was starting feel a little scared as to what Tom was proposing.

She wasn’t stupid.

Billie completely knew what Tom was getting at by calling her out on their flirting. This was his dorky way of asking her out and Billie kind of thought she might say yes if he asked which terrified her. She had to remind herself that dating your co-star was a really stupid idea even if said co-star had puppy dog eyes and he was actually a nice guy for once. Not to mention Billie was _maybe_ starting to find his accent tolerable.

“Well, I was just thinking after all those rumors about us that maybe we could…” Tom trailed off, looking at Billie and hoping she would catch his drift.

However, Billie could play the dumb blonde part really well so she pretended like she didn’t know what he was talking about because she was scared of Tom. She was scared because he was nice and she wasn’t. Billie was also terrified of them dating before he would eventually get bored of her and leave like her father did. Every man that walked into Billie’s life terrified her in the same exact way. Only then, she would have to see Tom’s face all the time because they were locked into a movie contract together and Billie was never friends with her exes. Billie didn’t like the idea of things turning sour between her and Tom which she knew was inevitable if they dated.

Thankfully, Chris Evans showed up before Billie had to pretend that she didn’t know what he was talking about.

“What’s going on in here? Everyone’s looking for you two,” Chris told them as he looked curiously between Billie and Tom while standing in the doorway.

Tom’s eyes widened as he looked at Chris who really couldn’t have shown up a worse time but Billie was just relieved. She would’ve kissed Chris but that would’ve been weird because he portrayed her grandpa in a film franchise. Not technically incest but still weird. That would’ve been like if David Schwimmer and Courtney Cox started dating in real life.

Billie took Chris’s interruption and decided to make her getaway while silently praying that Tom would give up on the dating thing. He really had no idea how much she would screw up his life by getting involved with her. He was just starting to make a name for himself and he didn’t need to be tied down to her.

Billie was actually doing him a favor.

He would thank her one day when he actually met a nice girl with zero baggage.

“No, Tom, I don’t want to be your friend with benefits,” Billie said loudly much to Tom’s shock and embarrassment. Chris just watched with wide eyes as he stared at the two teenagers in bewilderment. “And I will absolutely not have unprotected sex with you. Who knows what diseases they have across the pond. Shame on you for trying to corrupt me.”

Tom just stared at her silently as Billie finally started walking away from him, the room entirely silent from her odd remarks. She walked up to Chris who didn’t look like he knew what to say.

“Thank god you came in when you did, Chris. That nasty British pervert was trying to steal my virginity,” Billie deadpanned, pretending she was more innocent than she was while also avoiding answering Tom’s unspoken inquiry. “You saved my virtue. Thank you.”

She patted him on the chest before exiting the room, leaving Tom and Chris alone. Billie needed to get out of there fast before Tom tried to ask her out again and make things weird. She wasn’t really worried though. He’d probably forget about the whole thing and move on to some other girl.

He would be better off too.

Chris narrowed his eyes as he looked at Tom and the English actor would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little bit scared from Captain America giving him the death glare. It looked like most of the Avengers cast seemed to believe Billie’s innocent act which really didn’t seem to be doing Tom any favors right now. She really had everyone fooled.

God, he was so screwed.

“You were trying to do what?” Chris questioned, sounding more angry than Tom had ever known him to be. Tom felt trapped and he cursed himself for just not coming out and asking Billie out in a much more clear and obvious way. Now he was in a mess where Billie obviously misunderstood him and Chris Evans wanted to kill him.

A year ago this would’ve been crazy but he supposed this was just his life now.

 

* * *

 

“So how are things with you and Sarah going?” Scarlett asked Sebastian as they were all gathered on Robert’s patio. Well, not all of them. Sebastian was pretty sure Sarah was chatting with Elizabeth and Chris inside while Billie was god knows where with Holland.

He really didn’t understand those two.

One minute Billie would be complaining about how annoying he was but whenever the British actor showed his face, Billie was right at his side flirting with him. Sebastian wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He actually wasn’t sure how to feel about a lot of stuff concerning Billie.

“They’re going really good, actually. Almost two months and well…I’m really happy,” Sebastian said which was true. He did feel happy and Sebastian couldn’t remember feeling this happy in a long time. “Texas is hot but it’s nice to get away from everything.”

“Billie was also in Ireland for a while so that must’ve been fun for you,” Robert interjected and Sebastian frowned, thinking Robert was implying that he didn’t want Billie around so he could spend more time with Sarah. He didn’t like people making the assumption that he was ignoring Billie. Mostly because he didn’t want Billie to feel like he was trying to steal her mother from her.

“What?” He questioned and Anthony smirked, catching Robert’s meaning.

“I think Robert means that while Billie’s away, mommy and daddy will play,” Anthony teased and Sebastian blushed. Paul(Bettany) and Jeremy were in the room too and they shared in everyone’s laughter over an embarrassed looking Sebastian. “So how much fun did mommy and daddy have?”

“I’m not going to answer that,” Sebastian grumbled, sulking at how Anthony never gave up on teasing him about Sarah. Before it was because Anthony knew how much he was into Sarah before Sebastian could even admit it to himself and now it was because he was finally dating Sarah who also happens to be Billie’s mom.

There was going to be a lot of jokes.

Sebastian already knew that going into this relationship with Sarah but he thought it was completely worth it.

“So how’s Billie taking all this?” Scarlett asked, curious as to how Billie was dealing with Sebastian and her mom now being together. Sebastian swallowed hard as he considered Scarlett’s question.

That was a tough question.

Sebastian thought things had been going well until last weekend.

“Um…great. For the most part,” Sebastian admitted but only because he wanted to seek advice from his co-stars who were parents. Not that he was looking to parent Billie but he just needed some insight.

“The most part? What does that mean?” Jeremy questioned and everyone else seemed to be just as confused by Sebastian’s answer. The Romanian actor sighed before finally voicing his concerns to his friends. Normally he would ask his other friends outside the business but none of them were parents so he didn’t think they could provide him with answers.

“Well, everything was going really well. Billie took the news way better than I did when my mom and step-dad got together,” Sebastian started to tell the others who all listened to him curiously. “But then last weekend she went to Coachella with her friend because her mom got her tickets as a birthday present.”

“I take it something happened at Coachella?” Robert guessed and Sebastian nodded.

“Yes,” Sebastian, looking very troubled. “We picked her up from the festival and she was completely hammered. She was totally unlike herself.”

“Aufderheide was drunk?” Anthony asked in amusement. Some of the others looked amused but Sebastian was anything _but_ amused.

“She threw up all over the inside of my car. Somehow on the outside too,” Sebastian told them and Jeremy actually started laughing. Everyone else didn’t look that surprised.

_Welcome to parenthood, Stan._

“I remember those days,” Jeremy said, reflecting fondly on his youth. “She’s a teenager, Sebastian. Billie’s going to do shit like that. Don’t you remember when you were a teenager?”

“Well, yeah,” Sebastian mumbled and Scarlett raised an eyebrow.

“Are you saying you never did anything stupid when you were Billie’s age?” Scarlett questioned and Sebastian sighed.

“Yes but I thought Billie was different than that. She’s always so…put together,” Sebastian told them and Robert shrugged.

“Billie’s very mature for her age but she’s still a teenager. She’s not going to be the perfect and well behaved child of your girlfriend,” Robert informed him and Scarlett nodded in agreement.

“You’ve only been around Billie for all the fun stuff. Now you’re seeing what Sarah probably has to deal with on a daily basis,” Scarlett told him sincerely, giving Sebastian more to think about. “It’s not all movie nights and having cute little family dinners together.”

“I just don’t know where I stand in all this,” Sebastian said, still looking torn over this situation and no one could blame him for that. “I remember when my mom started dating my step-dad. I hated him at first. What if this is Billie’s way of hating me? What if I’m becoming like my step-dad? Not that he’s a bad guy or anything but I was a stupid kid who thought he was the lamest person in the world.”

“Billie doesn’t hate you,” Anthony said, rolling his eyes at how ridiculous Sebastian was being about this whole thing. “She doesn’t think you’re lame either so you’re not becoming the lame step-parent.”

“I don’t know what to do in a situation like this. I know I can’t be a parent…not that I know how,” Sebastian said, looking worried out of his mind but he wouldn’t be Sebastian if he didn’t worry. “But I also know that things are different now so I can’t just be her friend either.”

“You’re not married to Billie’s mother so there’s certain boundaries you can’t cross and even if you do get married to Billie’s mother there’s _still_ certain boundaries you can’t cross,” Paul pointed out, providing the most helpful insight on this since he was a step-father himself unlike the others. “However, at the same time you do have a right to be angry if she does something like she did last weekend just like you said. Jennifer’s son is a few years younger than Billie so he isn’t quite up to those teenage hijinks yet but as a step-father there’s certain things you have to leave to the mother but at the same time you can’t always be a friend either.”

“That sounds really complicated,” Sebastian said, starting to get a pounding headache from this whole entire conversation.

“Teenagers _are_ complicated. Better get used to it, Stan,” Robert told him, patting him on the back.

“Did you know Billie’s dating? Apparently Tyler wasn’t her only boyfriend. She had one before him too,” Sebastian said, sounding bewildered by the fact that Billie was dating which everyone found amusing.

“Billie’s eighteen, Sebastian. You can’t honestly tell us that you had no idea that she was dating,” Scarlett said doubtfully as she tried not to laugh at the overwhelmed actor. “Sebastian, I can’t believe you’re that stupid. No offense but honestly…”

“Billie’s an attractive young woman,” Robert started to say as he tried to phrase the statement in a way that wasn’t inappropriate since Billie was the youngest cast member of the Avengers cast and everyone kind of saw her as the “Baby Avenger”. “It’s not surprising that she’s dating. I feel like we’re the old and ugly cast members that no one cares about anymore because all we get asked about is Billie this and Billie that. I used to be the most attractive one around but that changed the day they cast Hemsworth and Aufderheide.”

“That Holland kid sure seems to be all over her,” Jeremy commented as he remarked on something everyone else noticed. “The second he set foot into this place, he practically demanded to know where Billie was. Someone’s whipped."

“You’re being ridiculous,” Scarlett said as she rolled her eyes. It was ridiculous how much these men gossiped like old ladies. “They’re just a couple of kids. You can’t blame them for hanging out all the time. Everyone else on set is twice their age so that’s all there is to it. It doesn’t mean anything’s going on.”

“I don’t know about that but I do know that Billie is too much woman for that kid,” Anthony said with a serious look on his face that would’ve made everyone laugh if he wasn’t, in fact, talking about Billie. “There would be nothing left of that little English boy when Billie got through with him. There’s a saying about Texan women down south and you can even ask Sea Bass over there since he knows more than well about how that saying about Texan women goes.”

“Don’t be disgusting,” Scarlett said as everyone else looked mostly disgusted by what Anthony was saying. Sometimes he really went too far. Everyone then turned to look at Sebastian who had grown quite pale since Anthony started speaking. He actually looked like he was going to be sick.

“Mackie, look what you did,” Robert said, feeling sympathetic for Sebastian. He supposed he was going to feel that way someday when his daughter got old enough. “Poor Sebastian looks terrified.”

“Guys,” Sebastian started to say as he finally looked up at everyone with wide eyes. “You don’t think Billie’s had…sex, right? _Right_?”

Everyone felt really bad for their friend in that moment because he was entirely clueless about Billie. Robert cleared his throat awkwardly as he threw his arm around Sebastian’s shoulders and began to lead him off the patio.

“We need to have a long conversation.”

 

* * *

 

 Tom finally got out of the library, escaping a very dangerous situation with Chris Evans after explaining to the famous actor that Billie was just being her weird self. Chris seemed to understand that enough since Billie could be weird, after all. There didn’t seem to be any hard feelings between them but Tom was still wondering what he was going to do about Billie.

Did she honestly think he was asking to have sex with her or was she messing with him?

Tom couldn’t tell but what went on in Billie’s mind was anyone’s guess.

He was about to turn down the hallway when he almost ran into someone. Tom was probably to blame for that since he hadn’t been paying much attention. His mind was entirely on Billie at the present moment and he hadn’t been brought back into reality until he almost knocked someone off their feet.

To Tom’s horror it was a short blonde woman.

His mum would probably give him her infamous death glare and tell him how disappointed she was in him for acting so rude and careless as to what was going on in the world around him. For example, a very attractive woman with blonde hair who was probably minding her own business until Tom almost knocked her over.

Is this how much Billie had driven him crazy?

“I’m so sorry,” Tom quickly apologized, worried he might’ve almost knocked over Chris Evans or Jeremy Renner’s girlfriend. Hopefully she wasn’t dating Chris Evans because Tom had just barely gotten out of trouble with the actor.

“No, it’s okay. I wasn’t watching where I was going,” The woman said in a kind voice but her accent was actually pretty familiar to Tom’s ears but he just couldn’t connect the dots in that moment.

Tom looked down at the short blonde woman who was actually very beautiful. Tom blushed as a pair of the biggest blue eyes landed on him and when the same blue eyes directed a kind smile at him. The woman must’ve been in her late twenties by Tom’s calculations. Maybe too old for him but Tom was still a guy with eyes.

“I’m known to be a bit clumsy at times so it probably really is my fault,” Tom told her jokingly but trying to make sure she was okay. He would’ve tried to come up with something a little more impressive to say to her after screwing things up with Billie so badly but he didn’t think this woman would be interested in him anyways. She would probably just see him as some dorky kid.

He was pretty sure Billie saw him that way and Billie was actually younger than him.

“Wait a second,” The woman said as she gave Tom a curious look. A small excited smile soon made it’s way across her face and it was the kind of smile that was infectious. “You wouldn’t happen to be Tom now, would you?”

“I am Tom, actually,” Tom said sheepishly, wondering if he had met this woman before. This seemed to make the small blonde happy as practically beamed at him.

“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to meet you,” Sarah said before realizing she still hadn’t properly introduced herself. “I’m Sarah by the way. Billie’s mom.”

Tom’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at the woman in front of him. The woman who he had been discreetly checking out that also happened to be the mother of the girl he just tried to ask out. The British actor was in complete disbelief over this new information.

This was Billie’s mother?

How was that even possible?

This woman didn’t look like she could be the mother of an eighteen-year-old girl. Tom knew that Billie’s mother had her young but he still didn’t imagine someone like Sarah being her mother. Was he honestly just checking out Billie’s mum? He was so disgusting. What was up with Billie and her mum anyways? Were they supposed to be the Hemsworths of America? Just a family of super attractive people.

Now that Tom thought about it, Billie and her mum did look quite a bit alike. They both had the same shade of blonde hair, creamy pale skin, the same shape of lips, and even a similar nose. The only differences were that their eyes were a different shade of blue with Billie’s containing bits of green in the depth of her blue eyes while her mother’s eyes were a piercing blue but much rounder in shape. Billie was also several inches taller than her mother and Tom wondered if she got her tallness from her grandfather who was also quite tall.

Why was Billie’s mum hot?

More importantly, why had Tom leered at her mother like some kind of pervert? Especially considering this was Billie’s mother and Tom really liked Billie.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Dr. Aufderheide,” Tom said bashfully after remembering that Billie’s mum was a veterinarian. Sarah smiled and waved her hand dismissively.

“Just call me Sarah,” The blonde woman told him kindly and Tom was taken away by how much more welcoming she seemed than Billie who rarely smiled. It also astonished Tom how Sarah’s Texan accent was more pronounced than Billie’s. It might might’ve made sense since Billie spent a lot of time faking different accents for movie roles while her mum did nothing like that. Billie might’ve started to lose her accent over time which Tom found surprising since he thought her Texan accent was quite thick. “I feel like I already know you. Billie mentions you a lot.”

“She does?” Tom said almost dreamily because he always thought Billie found him annoying and didn’t like him. Sarah nodded.

“Of course she does. You two are friends, aren’t you?” Sarah told him and Tom suddenly wanted to frown at that because he was starting to want to be more than Billie’s friend. Although the blonde always said or did something crazy that made him question that idea. Just like what she just said and did in the library not even fifteen minutes ago.

“Yeah, she’s been really nice and helpful during this new transition in my life. She’s a really good friend to have,” Tom said honestly even though he had so much more to say about Billie but he didn’t really think it was stuff he needed to tell her mum about. Sarah smiled happily.

“Well, I’m glad. Billie really needs more friends her own age,” Sarah said sincerely, looking genuinely happy about Billie and Tom’s friendship. “She hangs out with a lot of older people so it’s always nice for her to be friends with people her own age. Billie was like that when she was little too. She always acted older than she was and she always wanted to hang out with the adults.”

“Really?” Tom asked curiously, he was really enthralled by the idea a younger Billie. It was so tough to imagine her as anything but the bitter and cynical eighteen-year-old girl she was.

“Billie’s been like a little adult her whole life,” Sarah said although she felt a bit saddened after the events of last weekend. She still felt like she missed something huge that might’ve been going on with Billie. It was so unlike Billie to get into trouble like that and Sarah was never more worried about her than she was now. She had half a mind to ask Tom if he had any clue what was going on with Billie but she didn’t put the poor kind in an awkward position.

“If she knew we were talking, she’d probably kill me,” Sarah said, realizing that she and Tom should head out to the dining area where everyone was getting ready. “Billie thinks I’m embarrassing. You know how it is.”

Well, Tom did happen to know how it was but he really couldn’t see Sarah as the embarrassing parent. She was probably the cool parent you could talk to about relationships and she probably got all the current pop culture references that Tom’s parents never would. Although, Tom was still trying to get over the fact that he practically leered at Billie’s mum. He couldn’t imagine what Harrison would say if he knew. Tom figured that Harrison would never let him live it down so he thought it was best to never mention it.

“I doubt she thinks you’re embarrassing,” Tom tried to tell her but Sarah didn’t look convinced. However, she didn’t continue the conversation further as she could hear everyone entering the dining room and knew it was time for the actual dinner part of the evening.

“We should head inside. Sebastian’s  probably waiting,” Sarah said the last part more to herself. Tom was almost confused by the part about Sebastian until he recalled that Sebastian and Billie’s mum apparently had a thing going on. It seemed like from the expression on Sarah’s face that so-called thing progressed a lot more.

“Of course,” Tom said before letting Billie’s mum walk ahead of him out of politeness. Sarah gave the teenage boy an amused smile as he gestured for her to go ahead like a gentlemen.

Now why can’t Billie date a nice boy like that?

While Tyler seemed funny and okay, he was kind of a douchebag which was why Sarah was relieved they had broken up. Billie hadn’t had a huge list of boyfriends but so far Sarah wasn’t impressed by her daughter’s taste in men. Sarah was more than aware that her daughter was a flirt, something she probably inherited from her father but Sarah knew better than to ever tell Billie that.

 Her daughter liked flirting a lot and sometimes with men who were way too old for her. She once witnessed Billie unabashedly flirting with Leonardo DiCaprio at an event not so long ago when she thought her mother wasn’t watching. Everyone was more than aware of Leonardo DiCaprio’s taste for blonde, thin, and beautiful women who were under the age of twenty five. Sarah had been horrified at the sight and practically dragged her daughter out of there before lecturing Billie in the car on the way home. Billie nodded but Sarah could tell she wasn’t taking her seriously.

Now that Billie was legally an adult, Sarah was more worried about her than ever.

Billie would be free to do whatever she wanted and Sarah was terrified about what that would mean. She was scared to leave Billie alone and then read in the headlines that Billie was out doing something crazy or dating some douchebag like Tyler. Sarah wanted more than anything to protect her daughter but now that her daughter was an adult, Sarah wasn’t sure she could do that anymore. Sarah wondered if a long line of assholes was what she had to look forward to during Billie’s adulthood.

Oh, Billie, why can’t you date a nice boy like this one? You would be making my life so much easier.

 

* * *

 

“Remember that time Billie was totally Hemsworth’s bodyguard?” Elizabeth questioned as everyone ate dinner at Robert’s huge dining room table. The producers, the Russo brothers, and even some of the actors had since left the party, feeling tired in wake of the beginning of the long press tour. Billie was sitting next to her mom at the table who was sitting between her and Sebastian. Chris was sitting on Billie’s other side while Anthony was sitting on the other side of Sebastian. And just, of course, Tom was sitting directly across from her.

Billie wouldn’t be surprised if Robert planned it out that way.

“I almost forgot about that,” Chris said, laughing as he recalled the memory that Elizabeth was talking about. Tom looked around the table in interest as a majority of the cast members started laughing. Billie just rolled her eyes but a small smile remained on her lips as she looked in between Chris and Elizabeth.

“Hold up, what’s this about Billie being Hemsworth’s bodyguard?” Anthony asked, looking at the others in amusement as Tom, Sebastian, and Paul(Rudd) all seemed to want to know the inside joke that some of the other cast members were in on. Scarlett snorted with laughter before answering, almost spilling her glass of wine in the process.

 _Someone's a little tipsy tonight_ , Billie thought to herself.

“When we were filming _Age of Ultron_ a couple years ago we all went out for dinner at this place in Atlanta that Downey got us reservations for,” Scarlett started to explain to the people who weren’t present for this dinner everyone was referencing. “It was me, my husband, Billie, Sarah, Downey, Evans, Renner, Lizzie, Hemsworth, and Bettany. Who else am I missing?

“Ruffalo and his wife were there too,” Jeremy reminded her and Scarlett nodded as everyone else eagerly listened.

“So we had this whole dining area reserved for ourselves and there was this waitress who kept coming in and completely flirting with Hemsworth,” Scarlett said as she continued to tell the story. “She was undressing him with her eyes and touching his shoulder. She made it ridiculously obvious and the poor guy was too polite to say anything.”

“It’s nothing we aren’t used to. Hemsworth really attracts the ladies wherever he goes. Men too for that matter,” Robert added before Chris took over from there.

“Everyone at the table with getting pretty uncomfortable and none of us wanted to say anything to her because we didn’t want to embarrass her,” Chris said before pointedly looking at Billie who took a bite of the pasta on her plate, not looking bothered by the look Chris gave her. “But I think we all know that there’s one person among us who really doesn’t care whether or not she embarrasses a poor waitress.”

“Yes, a poor innocent waitress that couldn’t wait to get into Hemsworth’s pants,” Billie said sarcastically. “I think we all know who the victim was. Poor Hemsworth and his pretty face which makes him a target for slutty waitresses everywhere.”

Chris rolled his eyes because it was just like Billie to not be ashamed of her actions. Billie never apologized for anything she did. It was something that bothered him about the teenage girl. One time she insulted Kim Kardashian in an interview and received a ton of backlash. Chris suggested that she might talk to her publicist and make a public apology. When Chris made the suggestion, Billie looked at him like he was an idiot and called him a pussy. Never again, did Chris try to get her to apologize.

The girl was just too stubborn.

“Anyways,” Elizabeth said before Chris could give Billie another lecture about taking responsibility for the things she said and did. “The waitress comes by during dessert and leans over Hemsworth suggestively as she picks up a plate on the table. He’s really embarrassed at this point and we’re all embarrassed for him but before any of us can do anything, Billie reaches over and shoves the waitress away from Hemsworth.”

“The waitress was really shocked and I think all of us were,” Scarlett told everyone as they listened with eager ears. The actress laughed before she told everyone the best part. “Then she glares at the waitress, points her butter knife at the terrified woman, before saying, “He’s married. Back the fuck off.”

“I’ve never seen anyone run so fast in my life,” Jeremy said, chuckling before taking a sip of his beer. Everyone erupted into giggles at the table while Billie didn’t look particularly amused. She was glad everyone found her so fucking funny. That was the last time she tried to protect her co-star’s virtue.

“Yes, it’s all very funny,” Billie said sarcastically, giving everyone a look of disdain. “That was a terrible butchering of my accent by the way, Scarlett. Never play a Southerner. You can’t pull it off like your namesake.”

“You do realize that I wasn’t named after Scarlett O’Hara, right?” Scarlett told the teenage girl, raising her eyebrow.

“Whatever,” Billie muttered but what she didn’t know as she glared down at her food was that she had Tom’s full, undivided attention.

The English actor watched her curiously, trying to figure her out like he always did but he should’ve known it was pointless. Billie Aufderheide was impossible to understand but that didn’t mean that Tom didn’t like trying. It seemed like with every moment he spent in Billie’s company, the more he was drawn to her. However, what Tom didn’t know either was that both he and Billie had the full, undivided attention of Robert Downey Jr.

The actor watched the two teenagers curiously but mostly watched the lovelorn look on Tom’s face as he stared at an unknowing Billie. Everyone always teased those two about there being a secret romance on set but it was all just a bunch of jokes. No one really meant it. Robert joined in on the teasing too but maybe he was starting to realize that maybe there was something there.

The way Tom looked at Billie was evidence enough of that.

It didn’t surprise Robert that Billie already had Tom under her spell. Billie was a beautiful, intriguing, and intelligent young woman. She was the kind of person who attracted attention wherever she went. Everyone was drawn to her and it seemed as though Tom was no exception.

Robert had always liked Billie, feeling something like paternal affection for the teenage girl and especially after learning about her father. Billie’s father explained why the girl was so bitter and angsty all the time but Robert liked her despite all that. She was funny, brutally honest, and probably the most terrifying yet interesting person Robert had ever met.

Truth be told, Robert really liked Tom too. He even thought those two kids would make a great pair. It was no secret how often they flirted on set and how much they bickered. It almost reminded Robert of him and his wife when they first met but Billie’s language was a lot more foul than Susan’s was. However, it wasn’t until now that Robert realized that maybe Tom actually had a crush on Billie.

Robert just wondered how Billie felt.

“Isn’t Hemsworth’s wife your best friend now?” Elizabeth asked in amusement and Billie sighed heavily.

“We follow each other on Instagram,” Billie admitted reluctantly and everyone laughed in amusement at the blonde. Sebastian shook his head at her from down the table.

“I can’t believe this is the first time that I’ve heard about this,” Sebastian said and Sarah just rolled her eyes.

“Leave it to Billie to defend the honor of grown ass men,” Sarah said and Anthony laughed. Billie narrowed her eyes at Anthony.

“You better watch it, Mackie. The next time you flirt with an interviewer, I’ll be making a call to _your_ wife,” Billie threatened. Her tone was joking but she totally meant it. Anthony grew very quiet after that.

“So what? You’re going to rat us all out?” Anthony questioned and Billie smirked at him.

“I have to have some way to keep you guys in line,” Billie teased and Anthony rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe the nerve of this girl.

“So last week was a certain special person’s birthday,” Chris started to say casually as he changed the subject. Billie raised an eyebrow at him. Everyone’s attention turned to Chris and Billie, already forgetting about the story about Hemsworth.

“I really hope you’re talking about Downey,” Billie said, referring to the fact that she and Robert happened to share the exact same birthday. He liked calling them birthday twins while Billie just told him how much of a lame old person he was.

“No, I’m actually talking about a now eighteen-year-old young lady,” Chris said teasingly. Billie glowered at him, wondering if maybe Chris actually was the notoriously old man he played in the movie. “Now I know someone just had to spend her birthday in Coachella away from us old people so we couldn’t celebrate it together.”

Billie noticed the way her mom and Sebastian shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Coachella. Even Billie was having major unwelcoming flashbacks of the night. It was apparent that Chris wasn’t aware of what transpired that night. Maybe that was a good thing because she didn’t want a lecture from Chris. She loved him but he always felt an annoying need to watch out for her because he was terrified that she would end up like Lindsey Lohan.

One time she overheard Chris trying to convince an interviewer, who had never smoked weed, to try it with him because according to him everyone should try getting stoned at least once in their life. When Billie jokingly suggested that they should get stoned together, Chris became horrified and gave her a lecture about how bad drugs were. What a fucking hypocrite.

Also…who knew Captain America was a stoner.

“So I know most of everyone here sent you your gifts so I bet you’re wondering where mine is,” Chris told her excitedly and Billie could tell he was going to be a huge dork about this. This guy’s enthusiasm always irritated her but she told herself not to ruin whatever this was for Chris. Getting people presents always made him happy. He was that kind of person.

“Not really,” Billie said boredly before looking over at Rudd. “I’m still waiting on my gift from you. Where the hell’s my present, Rudd?”

She was mostly just picking on him because they didn’t really know each other well enough to get each other presents. Billie didn’t honestly expect anything from him. The one thing about working with a bunch of rich, famous people was that they always got you outrageously expensive gifts. Robert sent her a crazy expensive custom made charm bracelet from Tiffany’s that she was sure Susan picked out. Scarlett sent her a gorgeous Versace handbag that Billie added to her collection of designer handbags and if she was being honest she totally slept with that thing.

She cuddled with her Versace handbag like it was a cute dog.

Jeremy, Hemsworth, Lizzie, Jon Hamm, and January Jones all sent her ridiculously expensive gifts too and while Billie liked them well enough, they weren’t very personal gifts which Billie would’ve preferred more. She knew that it was no fault of theirs since they didn’t really know her well enough to get her a more meaningful gift that wasn’t filled with dollar signs. Yes, they worked together all the time but Billie rarely let people in enough for them to get to know her.

Sebastian knew her and got her concert tickets to see the Weeknd while she was in Atlanta filming the new Spider-Man movie. He knew all the artists she listened to because for years she would ramble on to him about who she was listening to and Sebastian would humor her by actually listening to her, mostly amused by the enthusiasm she seemed to carry for musicians. Which was why she felt even more guilty for making a fool out of herself in front of him and throwing up all over his car.

Although…Billie forced the memory out of her mind as she remembered the thoughtful and sweet gift Tom sent her. The image of Tom’s gift made her feel giddy inside because it was perhaps the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given her. It flattered her that he paid attention enough to her to actually buy something like that with her in mind. Billie was starting to feel all kinds of things the more she thought about Tom’s gift.

“Where the hell is _my_ present?” Rudd playfully retorted, breaking her out of her thoughts, and Billie raised an eyebrow.

“It was your birthday? When?” Billie questioned and Rudd chuckled.

“Two days after yours,” He told her and Billie was stumped. She had no idea. Billie then gave the older actor a curious look as she looked him over.

“How old are you?” Billie asked him curiously and her mother gave her a horrified look.

“Billie!” Her mom exclaimed in surprise although she really shouldn’t be surprised over the things her daughter said and did. She should be accustomed to it all by now. “You can’t just ask people how old they are.”

“That rule only applies to women,” Billie pointed out before returning her attention to Rudd who only looked amused. “Seriously…how old?”

“It’s okay, Sarah,” Paul told the blonde woman who seemed to make him feel really old since she was twelve years younger than him with an eighteen-year-old daughter. Sarah Aufderheide made him feel like a grandpa. He then looked back at a very curious Billie Aufderheide before answering her. “Forty seven.”

Billie jaw dropped at that and everyone looked at her with interest since Billie rarely looked shocked by anything. Although, Tom had to admit that he was shocked by Paul’s age too. He didn’t see that coming either so Billie wasn’t alone in her surprise.

“No, you’re not,” Billie said in disbelief because Paul didn’t look forty seven.

“Well, I am,” Paul told her awkwardly, not knowing what else to say to the young actress. Billie crossed her arms, silently remarking at how he could look that young but still be closer to fifty than forty.

“Did you bathe in a bunch of virgin blood or something? How do you look that young?” Billie asked him bluntly and Paul’s wife laughed while the actor just looked uncomfortable by Billie’s poking and prodding about his age.

Sarah gave her daughter a look of disapproval which Billie pointedly ignored. Tom just wondered how Billie could even find it in herself to speak to actors like that. Tom had trouble even making small talk with them in the first place.

Paul finally just shrugged.

“I guess I just have good genes,” Paul offered as an explanation and Billie just shook her head, still stumped by this.

“I just can’t believe you’re that close in age to Robert when Robert looks like he could be your dad,” Billie said, insulting Robert who frowned at her from down the table.

“I don’t look that old,” Robert said, secretly wondering if he really might look that old. Billie gave him a doubtful look.

“You look older than my grandfather,” Billie told him and Jeremy just leaned in close to Robert at that point, whispering in his ear even though everyone could hear him.

“Don’t let her get inside your head, man. You don’t want to be like Ruffalo,” Jeremy told him seriously. “She can smell weakness.”

“I can hear you, Renner,” Billie said, narrowing her eyes at the man who just smiled sheepishly at her although he had to admit that he was tiniest bit scared of her.

Everyone was kind of scared of her except for Sebastian, Evans, and Mackie. Those three seemed to think that Billie was the perfect angel but she was really fucking weird in Jeremy’s opinion. She once randomly gave him the third degree about the kind of research he did when he played Jeffrey Dahmer.

The teenage girl’s weird curiosity gave him the chills.

Especially when she told him that according to cannibals, human flesh tasted very similar to pig flesh. Then she proceeded to tell him a story she heard about an Irish woman in the 1800s who murdered a rich lady and then melted her body parts down to nothing but fat and sold it to people in her village as pig lard.

Jeremy really could’ve gone his whole life without hearing that story.

He didn’t mean anything bad by it but Billie really gave him the creeps sometimes. Her weird knowledge of serial killers was alarming and so was the fact that she rarely shared anything personal about herself. Her mom was the one who did all the talking. It was actually very perplexing to everyone that Sarah was such an upbeat and outgoing people while Billie was very reserved and almost grumpy.

“Are you going to let me give you my present or what?” Chris said impatiently, annoyed at being interrupted. Billie gave him a fake smile.

“Are you going to shave that hideous thing off your face as a present to me?” Billie asked sarcastically, referring to her disgust of his beard. “Because that would be the best present ever. Beards are so gross. No wonder you’re still single. I would personally never want anything to do with a guy with a beard.”

“Ha ha but no,” Chris said, not looking amused by her dig at his beard. She was always making fun of his beard and Chris found it very annoying. However, from down the table, Tom felt a flood of relief wash over him. At least there was one thing that definitely worked in favor with Tom trying to get a date with Billie. He couldn’t grow any facial hair to save his life. A beard was definitely out of the question for him.  “I actually have to go into the other room to get your present. Downey’s been letting me keep it in there for the past couple hours.”

“Billie, just please let him enjoy this. This is all he’s been talking about for the past week,” Scarlett told the teenage girl as Chris got out of his seat and practically jogged down the hall to get the present.

“Promise me that you’ll be nice to him,” Sarah told her daughter. “It’s really nice that he got you a present.”

“I know it is but he just makes it so easy to make fun of him. He’s such a dork,” Billie told her mom seriously and Sarah rolled her eyes while everyone chuckled in amusement. Tom remarked at how Billie’s relationship with Chris reflected the one their characters had in the movies. Emma Rogers would always tease her grandfather while Steve Rogers would always try to cheer her up.

 It was quite funny if you thought about it.

It didn’t take long for Chris to return to the room but this time he returned holding something that was wrapped up in a towel. Billie and everyone else in the room(other than Robert, Susan, Sebastian, and Sarah) gave him a curious look. If Billie wasn’t so curious she probably would’ve made fun of the excited look on Chris’s face when he walked back into the room.

Billie almost thought he was carrying a baby. She really hoped not. Billie had never held a baby in her life and had zero experience with children. She really hoped Chris wasn’t giving her some baby he bought off the black market.

“I had to keep this in the room back there too because I was afraid that one of Robert’s cats would eat him,” Chris explained as he walked closer to her. Robert sighed heavily.

“Yeah, Susan kind of didn’t want him in the house either. She thought he was a giant rat,” Robert informed her while Susan glared at him.

“I did not,” She retorted but Billie ignored them because her curiosity was at a boiling point.

What the hell was Chris giving her?

Before she could even question her friend/co-star, Chris stooped down and revealed what he was holding in his arms wrapped up like a baby in a soft towel. Billie gasped at the adorableness as Chris pulled the towel back.

A chinchilla.

All the other Avengers cast members leaned over in their seats to try and catch a glimpse of whatever Chris had in his arms. Scarlett shrank back in her seat when she realized that it was a rodent but Billie ignored her as she looked at the most adorable creature in Chris’s arms. Her gaze softened as she started at his velvety charcoal fur, his dark eyes, adorable ears, and the cutest little whiskers ever.

Billie didn’t believe in love at first sight. She gagged at very thought but maybe this little chinchilla was making a believer out of her in that very moment. Not where any guy was concerned because no guy could ever compare to the cuteness that this chinchilla possessed. This chinchilla was the definition of adorable.

“My friend’s daughter got him as a Christmas present but she couldn’t handle the responsibility so I took him off their hands,” Chris explained as Billie stared at the chinchilla, already in love with the rodent. “Mostly because I realized I knew a girl who loves weird looking rodents more than anyone else so I thought I’d kill two birds with one. Rescue an animal and get Billie a birthday gift. Mine definitely beats everyone else’s by the way. Sorry, Robert.”

“Only Billie would love a rodent over a dog or cat,” Robert mumbled, jokingly disappointed by the chinchilla beating the Tiffany charm bracelet. “That thing scared the shit out of me earlier. It started hopping around the room. I swear it was trying to chase me. Did you see the teeth on that thing. He could bite my finger off.”

“Already tormenting Downey, huh?” Billie said, her eyes still glued to the chinchilla. “I guess we’re soul mates then.”

“Can I hold him?” Billie then asked as she looked up at Chris. The actor smiled and nodded before handling the little bundle off to Billie. He was very satisfied that Billie visibly loved his birthday present to her but deep down he thought it would be good for her to have a pet. Chris knew that she used to have a guinea pig who died a couple years ago and Billie had been devastated when he passed away.

For some reason, Billie believed that it was silly to be sad over a dead rodent so she pretended like it didn’t bother her but he could tell that her guinea pig’s death broke her heart. Chris realized that it made sense that she was that attached to the guinea pig who she always showed everyone pictures of in the make-up trailer before getting ready for a long day of filming. Billie didn’t have a ton of friends growing up and she was always traveling so the guinea pig must’ve been the most constant friend in her life.

That’s why she was so heartbroken when he died.

Chris thought that maybe a chinchilla would be good for her because they were rodents which Billie seemed to oddly favor over cats and dogs but chinchillas also lived for twenty years. Maybe having a pet again would be good for her and make her happier. Chris had recently adopted his rescue dog Dodger and life was a thousand times happier and less lonely. He didn’t think his life was that lonely until he adopted Dodger and now he looked forward to coming home.

Now it felt like he actually had a home to go to.

“What’s his name?” Billie inquired as she reached down to pet him. She smiled at the feel of his soft fur under her fingers. It was really the softest fur she had ever felt. The chinchilla seemed to almost lean into her touch.

“Ziggy,” Chris told her and Billie instantly liked the name because it reminded her of the David Bowie song ‘Ziggy Stardust’.

“Cute name,” Billie said nonchalantly as she tried to act like she wasn’t losing her mind over the adorableness of this little creature. She had always wanted a chinchilla but her mom thought she was too young to take care of one since they were high maintenance pets so Billie got a guinea pig instead. Now it seemed like her childhood wish had come true.

Tom stared at Billie in a new light while she held the chinchilla in her arms. It was like he was seeing a whole different side of Billie that he had never seen before. She looked at the small animal in such a loving and caring way that he hadn’t known she was capable of. Billie usually had a bored look on her face or a certain sarcastic nature about herself but now he was getting a glimpse into the real Billie Aufderheide. The one who’s entire composure softened just at the sight of a chinchilla.

He watched as the blonde held the creature in her arms, gazing down at him with a softness in her eyes that he had never seen before. Tom couldn’t help but notice how remarkably beautiful she looked in that moment. It wasn’t a beauty meant for magazine covers or award shows. It was a natural sort of beauty that captivated Tom so much that he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her.

“Thank you, Chris,” Billie said sincerely as she looked up at her friend from her new pet. “I love him already.”

“I knew you would,” Chris said, a huge grin on his face. “You’re just a big softie inside, Aufderheide.”

“Whatever,” Billie mumbled as she held Ziggy closer to her chest.

“Happy birthday,” Chris said softly, patting the teenage girl on the shoulder. He was sort of scared that she was now eighteen because she was growing up so fast. It felt like it was just yesterday when he met a strangely grumpy and sarcastic fourteen-year-old girl. Now Billie was an adult and it made Chris feel really old.

“Here, I got you this too,” Anthony said around a mouth full of food, interrupting the sweet between Billie and Chris. He then tossed a thin looking card down the table towards her.

Still holding the chinchilla in her arms, Billie reached one arm out and picked the card off the table with a curious look on her face. The teenage girl read the card and didn’t know whether to laugh or glare at Anthony.

_‘Happy 18 th Birthday. 18 means you’re responsible for your own shit.’_

Billie then looked down and saw an illustrated image of a dog cleaning his own crap up with a pooper scooper. She scoffed before rolling her eyes.

“How charming,” Billie said sarcastically while Anthony smirked at her and everyone just looked confused since they couldn’t see the birthday card from where they were sitting. She then opened the card and a twenty five dollar giftcard to Whataburger came falling out. The blonde couldn’t help but start laughing as she stared at the giftcard. Everyone still looked confused as Billie sobered up from her laughter to look at her friend.

“Mackie, you big spender, you,” Billie said sarcastically but there was a glint of humor in her eyes as she looked over at the actor. “You really shouldn’t have.”

“Hey, don’t act like you won’t use that giftcard,” Anthony told her, his smirk unwavering as Billie just shook her head in amusement at him. Billie then passed the card and giftcard down the table so her co-stars could see them. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of the card and giftcard. Billie was glad she could provide them amusement for the evening.

“So who is it, Aufderheide?” Robert asked her, taking Billie’s attention away from Anthony. The older actor had a huge grin on his face. “Who got the best gift?”

Billie rolled her eyes again and sighed heavily. She fully realized that she worked with a bunch of morons. Well, maybe she didn’t just realize that but it was something she had known about for a while.

“I’m so not answering that.”

 

* * *

The party began to clear out a couple hours later after everyone finished their dinner and dessert. She knew Robert, Don, and Bettany were due to appear on Jimmy Kimmel tomorrow night so there was a large day of press ahead of them. Billie, Sebastian, Chris, Anthony, and Rudd weren’t due to appear on the show until later in the week and that wasn’t mentioning the LA premiere. Then Billie, Sebastian, Chris, and Anthony would be heading to China and Singapore for the press tour before meeting the others in London and the press tour finally ending back in LA.

This press tour was going to be huge and Billie was excited because she had never been to that side of the world before. A small town girl, who had never been out of the country until a couple years ago, had come a long way since those days where the biggest city she had ever traveled to was Longview.

However, she was a bit disappointed that her mom was going with her on the press tour. This was supposed to be Billie’s first press tour as an adult but her mom no longer trusted her enough to be on her own. Billie supposed that she couldn’t blame her but the fact that her mother didn’t seem to trust her made Billie feel like shit. She fully realized that she fucked up but Billie didn’t know how to fix it and earn her mom’s trust back.

She made a real mess of things, hadn’t she?

“Hey,” Tom said as he walked into the foyer of Robert’s huge mansion where Billie was standing as she waited for her mom and Sebastian to return. It was about time to leave and it seemed like Billie would be leaving with a new pet. The chinchilla Chris gave her was still wrapped up in a towel in her arms as she held him.

Since they were all about to leave on a worldwide press tour at the end of the week, Chris told her that he had a friend who would watch Ziggy and his rescue dog Dodger. Billie wasn’t sure she wanted to leave this little bundle of fluff but her job made a call for it so it seemed like she would have to leave. She still couldn’t believe this adorable little fluff ball was hers.

God…she was really getting soft.

“Hey,” Billie said in response as Tom walked over to her.

 She tried to ignore the way his warm brown eyes locked onto her face and the small smile tugging at his lips. Her heart shipped a beat at his adorableness and Billie realized that the chinchilla in her arms was to blame for this. He was making her think all these soft and weak thoughts. Normally Billie wouldn’t feel so moved by a pretty face like Holland’s but adorable rodents really messed up her logic like that.

“So tonight was fun,” Tom stated awkwardly, not knowing what else to say to Billie after the awkwardness of earlier. Billie nodded, offering Tom a small smile as she subconsciously pet Ziggy behind the ears. Tom’s eyes fell down to the cute animal Billie was holding.

“He’s really cute. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in real life,” Tom said thoughtfully as he looked at the blonde girl who he had a huge crush on. He could finally admit it to himself that he was really crushing on Billie Aufderheide and he might’ve even had feelings for her to a certain extent. Tom didn’t think it was love because he didn’t know her that well yet but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Billie could make it easy for him to fall in love with her.

She always seemed to be on his mind these days and Tom always felt a wave of giddiness wash over him whenever she texted him back or facetimed him. Spending the next few months with her filming a movie wasn’t going to erase a crush like that and Tom was sure his feelings for her would only grow over time. It was something that both scared him and excited him.

“I always wanted one but my mom didn’t let me have one before. I was too young, I guess,” Billie explained to him, her voice softer than usual as she glanced down at Ziggy. Tom’s heart skipped a beat at the genuine smile resting on her face as she gazed down at the small creature. He hadn’t known Billie was capable of looking that way since she was usually so serious and at times bitter and cynical. However, Tom was delighted that he was proved wrong as he saw another side of Billie that probably didn’t help his recently developed feelings for her.

Feelings that could probably prove very dangerous to him.

“Would it be alright if I pet him?” Tom asked her hesitantly and Billie looked back up at him, her ocean blue eyes boring into his brown ones. Little did they know that both of their hearts were beating rapidly in their chests. Billie finally blinked before nodding, hoping that the dim lighting in the foyer hide the blush on her cheeks.

“Of course,” Billie said softly and Tom smiled before reaching his hand down to pet the chinchilla, a blush covering his own face. Tom almost gasped as his fingers touched the chinchilla’s fur. He didn’t think he had felt anything so soft in his life.

“He’s so soft,” Tom murmured to himself as he gently pet Billie’s chinchilla.

The little creature was entirely adorable.

Tom suddenly understood Billie’s weird fascination with rodents. First, a guinea pig and now a chinchilla. Robert was right. It totally made sense that Billie wouldn’t be like most people and be a dog or cat person. Tom actually didn’t think he would be crushing on her this hard if she was a cat person. Tom fucking hated cats but he understood how Billie could be so fixated with rodents if they were this cute.

“I know. I kind of just want to sit around all day and pet him like Blofeld in James Bond,” Billie told Tom who laughed as he rubbed behind the chinchilla’s ears. Ziggy looked up at him, his little nose twitching as his whiskers flexed which made both Tom and Billie’s hearts melt in an instant.

“I think he likes you,” Billie said but her voice carried a hidden meaning. Like, maybe it wasn’t just Ziggy who liked Tom but someone else too.

Billie’s gaze then softened once more as she looked back up at Tom and it was like she was looking at him in a different light. She always knew Tom was a sweet guy but Billie was never into guys like that. In other words, Billie was never attracted to guys who were nice. She seemed to have a penchant for assholes. However, Billie was starting to see the attractiveness in a guy being fragile and delicate.

Who said all men had to hide their feelings by acting like an asshole? Nobody but Billie sometimes believed that’s all she deserved. A guy like Tom was a guy you married while a guy who was an asshole wasn’t. Billie didn’t want to date a guy like Tom because she didn’t deserve someone like him. Not to mention she liked him too much to date him. If things ended badly then it could become increasingly awkward since they worked together.

Billie didn’t know why she was listing off all the reasons she shouldn’t date him because it’s not like he had even technically asked her out. He almost did until Billie interrupted him with her weirdness. Maybe Billie listing all the reasons she couldn’t date him was so that she would remind herself not to give in and make a mistake that could ruin both of their careers.

Tom was still a little naïve when it came to Hollywood but Billie had been working in the industry for almost ten years so she knew better. This was why she had to be the one to put a stop to anything developing between the two of them. She had to be the responsible one this time. Billie had fucked up a lot of things lately but she was determined to not fuck this up too. Tom was her co-star and that’s all he was going to be. Maybe a friend too but nothing more.

“Well, the feeling’s mutual,” Tom said and it became clear, as he looked back at her, that he wasn’t just talking about Ziggy either. Billie could feel her heart pounding in her chest. “Hey, can I just say that I’m sorry for earlier. We got interrupted but-“

“Don’t worry about earlier,” Billie said, quick to interrupt Tom before he could ask her out again and set them on a path they couldn’t turn back from. “We haven’t see each other in a while. I don’t really miss people but I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss your annoying accent and how you talk my ear off all the damn time.”

“You missed me?” Tom asked in surprise, touched that Billie had actually missed him during their time apart. Billie chewed on the inside of her cheek as she decided to make something very clear to him. She had to do this in a subtle but firm way so that she wouldn’t embarrass him but at the same time she would make the message very clear.

“You’re my _friend_ , aren’t you? Aren’t I allowed to miss my friends?” Billie asked him and the hopeful look on Tom’s face fell at the way she said the word “friend”. There was no flirtatious undertone in her voice this time and no sparkle of mischief in her eyes either. She was dead serious.

“I suppose so,” Tom said with uncertainty because he was entirely confused by Billie. He didn’t know if she was completely oblivious earlier to the fact that he was asking her out or if she knew he was asking her out and she was rejecting him in a way to spare him of any embarrassment. Tom had no idea what was going on in that blonde head of hers and like always, he was dying to know.

“I know I pick on you all the time, Holland, but I do like you,” Billie admitted but she didn’t say it in any special way. She told him that she liked him in a fashion that was similar to how she spoke to Chris or Anthony. “I don’t tend to keep a lot of friends but I’m glad you’re one of them. I’m even excited to shoot Homecoming next month. We’ll have a lot of fun.”

“I’m excited too,” Tom said flatly but for the first time ever, he didn’t sound excited like he normally sounded whenever he discussed filming _Spider-Man: Homecoming._ This was probably because he realized that Billie was friend-zoning him.

Whether she was doing this intentionally or unintentionally was the only question.

“Billie, are you ready to go?” Sarah asked her daughter as she entered the foyer.

Billie finally glanced away from Tom, the intensity of her secret rejection fading as she turned to look at her mom who had just entered the foyer with Sebastian. The two adults looked between the two teenagers in confusion, knowing that they had probably interrupted something. Billie was just thankful for the interruption before things between her and Tom got anymore awkward.

“Yes,” Billie answered her mother as she held Ziggy close to her chest. Chris and Sebastian had already loaded the cage for Ziggy in the back of Sebastian’s car so they were all set to go. Sarah smiled kindly at Tom despite all the awkwardness in the room.

“It was really nice meeting you, Tom,” Sarah said as she went over and abruptly hugged him out of nowhere. Tom’s eyes widened in surprise before he laughed nervously and hugged her back. He was still in disbelief that Billie’s mum was insanely gorgeous.

“It was nice meeting you too, Dr. Aufder-I mean, Sarah,” Tom said, remembering that Sarah was apparently the cool mum who went by her first name when it came to her daughter’s friends instead of something more formal. Tom blushed again when he turned and saw Sebastian looking at him with raised eyebrows, probably aware that Tom had been checking Billie’s mum out again. Not that Tom meant to do that but the Aufderheide family seemed to be a family filled with gorgeous human-beings.

It was hard not to look at Billie and her mum.

Tom assumed that this meant that Billie’s mum and Sebastian were now a thing. No one said anything about it at dinner but it wasn’t difficult to realize after watching how close they sat together and the subtle flirtatious looks they’d given each other when they thought no one was looking. Tom didn’t really bring it up to Billie because she had gotten very uncomfortable a couple months ago when Tom teased her about Sebastian becoming her dad. He assumed it had something to do with her real dad who she didn’t talk about for whatever reason.

“See you at the premiere, Holland,” Sebastian said casually, still looking a bit curious as to what was going on between Tom and Billie. Tom smiled at him.

“See you,” He said politely and the newly formed family of three seemed to chat amongst each other as Sarah’s mum made sure Billie had everything and Sebastian held the door open for the them as they left. Tom watched longingly after Billie as she walked out the door, begging for a sign that maybe she secretly liked him back. If only she would just turn around to look at him one last time.

She never did.

Tom knew, without a doubt, that filming the new movie with her was going to be the single most difficult thing he had to do. Especially with these blossoming feelings he had for her and the fact that she wasn’t interested in him at all. He had it bad for Billie and Tom just didn’t know what to do about it.

Tom convinced himself that it was probably just a passing crush…a phase. He would probably be over her in a couple weeks or so then acting alongside her in a movie would be painstakingly easy. That’s what he told himself anyways.

Like always, Tom seemed to underestimate the hold Billie had over him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing in this story except for Billie and Sarah Aufderheide. This is actually an alternate usual fanfic to my Spider-Man/OC fic 'Some Things Never Sleep'. I haven't posted it on here yet but it's currently on Fanfiction.net, Quotev, and Wattpad. STNS is currently over 900,000 words so it might take a while to post on here and get it all caught up. Anyways...thank you and please leave a review to let me know what you think.


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